Pokémon: Four Journeys
by BZRich64
Summary: Four trainers; Ash, Gary, Daisy and Red; set out from Pallet Town to explore the Kanto Region, earn Gym Badges and eventually challenge the Pokémon League. But what unexpected challenges will they each have to face along the way? -Cancelled-
1. Chapter 1

"My name is Samuel Oak, but most of you probably know me as the 'Pokémon Professor'. 'What is a Pokémon?' some of you may be asking. Well to some people, Pokémon are pets. Some use them for the purposes of battle. Some see them as friends, and to others they are family. No matter what Pokémon are to you, there is no questioning the importance of meeting your first Pokémon.

It was roughly thirty-six years ago that I was given my Charmander and I began my journey across the region, learning everything I could about Pokémon. And now, almost four decades later I can still remember that day as if it just happened.

In ancient times children were sent into the wilderness to tame their first Pokémon as a rite of passage, an initiation of adulthood. In modern times the connotation of ascension into adulthood remains, but now they are given out to those who have graduated from a learning facility approved by the Pokémon League. Here in Pallet Town, I have been approved as a licensed instructor and children are taught under my supervision. This year there are four students who I have deemed worthy of this great honor.

And so, without further ado, it is my proud honor to bestow onto these four promising trainers their first Pokémon as well as official Pokémon Trainer licenses and Pokédexes of my own design. First up we have Ash Ketchum."

Prof. Oak looked over to his right where the Trainers-to-be were sitting. A wave of hushed muttering passed through the auditorium as the audience noticed that there were only three chairs filled. Noticing the unease filling the room, the professor tried lightening up the mood.

"Well, either I can't count, or Ash is late like always. I swear, the day he shows up to something on time will be the day I die." His attempt at a joke didn't seem to go over well with the crowd, so he decided to move on. "Well, I guess we'll just save him for last and hope he shows up. Next up is my granddaughter, Daisy Oak."

The only girl among the three stood up and walked over to her grandfather who picked up her license and a Pokédex from the table to his left. As Daisy reached the podium, the Professor handed them to her and shook her hand while people in the audience took pictures, then told her to stand behind the table, where four Pokéballs were resting.

"And now my grandson, Gary Oak."

One of the boys stood up and walked over to the professor who handed him his license and Pokédex, shook his hand, and asked him to stand by his sister.

"And last, but certainly not least, Samuel Redwood."

The other boy, informally known as Red, got up and did as the others. He got his license and Pokédex, shook the professor's hand and stood next to Gary.

"Is Ash here yet? No? Then I guess we'll move on." Professor Oak looked over to the three standing behind the table. "Now that you each have your licenses, you are officially able to have your own Pokémon. Before you are four Pokéballs, each one contains a Pokémon that will become a lifelong friend and companion. Choose among yourselves who will take which one."

Each of the children picked up one the Pokéballs and held it up proudly in front of them.

"Good, now release them from their Pokéballs and say hello to your new Pokémon!"

The three did as the professor told them and as they did he introduced each of them to their new companions.

"Daisy, you have chosen the Grass-type Bulbasaur; Gary, you have chosen the Water-type Squirtle; and Samuel, you have chosen the Fire-type Charmander. Your very own Pokémon legends are about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits you!"

* * *

As Daisy, Gary and Red set out on their Pokémon journeys, Ash Ketchum fell out of bed.

"Huh? What?" It took him a moment to fully wake up. "Oh no! What time is it?" He looked over to his alarm clock and saw that it was broken. "How did…" Ash gazed out the window, seeing that the sun was already up higher than it should be. "It doesn't matter, I'm late."

Ash got dressed and ran out the door as fast as he could, almost forgetting to put on pants. His mother must have left early that morning for work and went straight to the ceremony without him, assuming that he would get up on his own, as he usually did.

He ran to Professor Oak's Laboratory where the graduation meeting he should be at was being held, or to be more precise, the building next to the lab that was used as a school. He slowed to a walk as he approached it, however, when he saw the large crowd leaving the building. His heart sunk as he realized that he missed his own graduation and getting his first Pokémon. Even worse, practically the entire town was there and saw that he missed it. Despite the embarrassment he walked past the crowd, saying hello to some of the people he knew. He made his way to the auditorium. Professor Oak was still on the stage, packing up his things. He looked up and saw Ash walking up to him.

"Ah, hello Ash, I was wondering when you'd get here." The Professor stood up and picked up Ash's Pokémon license and the final Pokédex from the table. "I'm sorry you missed the ceremony, but if you want we can call your mother back here and we can still get a picture of you receiving your license."

"No thanks." Ash held his head low as he took the license and Pokédex from the professor. "Do I still get a Pokémon?"

"Of course you do." The professor picked up the last remaining Pokéball and held out to Ash. "Unfortunately, there's only one left so you don't get to choose."

A huge smile crept over Ash's face as he grabbed the Pokéball from Prof. Oak's hand. "Thank you." He held out the Pokéball and pushed the button to release the Pokémon inside. A trail of red light poured from it and reached the ground where a small, yellow Pokémon materialized.

"That's Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon." The professor explained. "Unfortunately, I only recently caught that one, so-"

Ash reached out to pet his new Pikachu and was met with an electric shock throughout his system.

"-you might have a little trouble with him at first."

* * *

With his new Pikachu in tow, Ash made his way back home. While passing by the Oak family residence he saw Gary riding off with an entourage of women in a red convertible.

"What?" Ash wasn't really sure what to make of that. Before he had time to question it further, Daisy walked up to him.

"Hi, Ash."

"Uh, hi Daisy. Who were those women with your brother?"

"Oh, just some girls that work for our dad. He said something about Gary 'not being mature enough' to go on his own. If you ask me, I think it would be good for him to be on his own for once, but oh well. Oh, before I forget, I had something I wanted to give you."

Daisy reached into her bag and shuffled around a bit before pulling out a large, folded piece of paper and handing it to Ash.

"What's this?" Ash said as he took the paper.

"It's a map. I figured that since you seem to get lost all the time just in this small town, you're bound to need one if you plan on traveling the region."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." Ash said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, directions just aren't your strong suit. Well, I should be going. It's a long walk to Viridian and I want to get there before dark. Goodbye, Ash."

"Bye, Daisy." They waved at each other as Daisy walked off on the first steps of her journey. Ash felt a bit of sting as he realized that he had no idea when he'd ever see Daisy, one of his closest friends, again. After a moment he started on his way again before stopping in front of the Pallet House.

Pallet Town was a pretty small town, so they didn't have any hotels or inns. There weren't enough people that visited to warrant any. What they did have was the Pallet House, a small bed & breakfast that had been started up by Ash's grandparents long ago. Currently, it was owned by his mother, Delia Ketchum, who had expanded the Pallet House into a large chain with Pallet Houses in almost every major city in the country. The key to its success was that every Pallet House strives to give the cozy, small-town feel of the original, no matter where they were. People from rural areas love staying at them for a sense of familiarity in large urban environments, while people from the big cities love them for the exotic, rural environment that they can't experience anywhere else.

Or so Ash had always been told, anyway. His mother has always been somewhat overprotective of him and had never let him go with her whenever she had to go out of town for business meetings or to open new Pallet Houses. All he knew was that the original one here only enjoyed mild success.

Ash walked inside and found his mom in her office. Despite owning the entire chain, Delia preferred to leave the business aspects of the company to others while she managed this Pallet House on her own. She was still involved in big decisions, but she spent most of her time here.

"Ash!" When Delia looked up and saw her son she immediately put down the paperwork she was doing and ran over to him. "How did it go? Did you get your Pokémon? Oh! That Pikachu must be him!"

"Wait, mom, don't pet him he'll…" Ash trailed off as his mother put her hand under Pikachu's chin, expecting it to shock her like it had him. And to his surprise, it didn't. In fact, the yellow mouse Pokémon seemed to enjoy it. "Hey! When I tried that he shocked me."

"You must have done it too hard, you need to be gentle." Delia looked up at Ash while still stroking Pikachu's chin and then suddenly pulled him into a hug and started crying. "I can't believe you're going. My baby boy is going away on his Pokémon journey all on his own." She continued going on but her sobbing made it almost impossible to tell what she was saying after that. But then she stopped crying and stood up. "Wait a minute. You don't have to go alone. Carmine! Carmine, get in here!"

After a moment a man ran into the room. He was tall, with dark red, shoulder-length hair. He had huge bags under his dark brown eyes and overall and had a disheveled look about him.

"There you are." Looking at Delia now, you would never guess that she had been bawling her eyes out less than a minute ago. "Carmine, I want you to go with Ash on his journey."

Ash and Carmine both looked at each other. A loud "What?!" was both of their responses.


	2. Chapter 2

Gary Oak had a plan. Once he got his Trainer's License, he would set out on his own to challenge the Gyms of Kanto, win their Badges and enter the Pokémon League. When he told his father these plans, his father, David Oak, simply laughed. According to David, Gary was 'not mature enough to be allowed on his own yet'. Gary tried to argue that his sister Daisy was going to travel on her own as well, but his father insisted that he had not 'earned that right'. And so Gary was now stuck in the back of one of his father's cars, escorted by the first six people his father could pay to completely drop whatever they were doing and accompany him for an indefinite amount of time.

Gary glanced out at the grassy plain that was Route 1 and thinking about what he was missing. He could be out there right now training his Squirtle and catching more Pokémon. He saw some sort of large purple mouse in the distance and suddenly he had an idea. With no warning, he suddenly unbuckled his seat belt and jumped out of the moving car. The fall hurt like crazy, but he didn't let that stop him. He ran off to where he saw that mouse Pokémon, completely ignoring the car stopping behind him and the girls getting out of it to run after him.

When Gary finally found the mouse, he called out his Squirtle from its Pokéball and ordered it to use Tackle on the wild Pokémon, and Squirtle rammed into the mouse with all its strength. The mouse was surprised by the sudden attack and retaliated with its own Tackle. Gary simply ordered his Squirtle to use Tackle again and the mouse went down. Gary threw an empty Pokéball at it while the girls finally caught up to him.

"Are you alright?"

"What were you thinking?"

"Why did you do that?"

Gary ignored their questions and picked up the Pokéball with his new Pokémon inside. He held it up high as he turned to face them.

"I caught…" He quickly pulled out his Pokédex to see what it was he actually caught, "a Rattata! Level 2, male, slightly taller than average."

* * *

Meanwhile, Red was also on Route 1. He had his Charmander out, walking alongside him so that they could bond. Red felt that it was important that they get to know each other since they would theoretically be spending the rest of their lives as friends and partners. Eventually, the two came to a river blocking the way.

"You probably don't like water." Red looked down at the fire lizard, who nodded. "Well, there should be a bridge somewhere. I guess we should have been following the road."

Red and Charmander looked to see if they could find the bridge. Unfortunately, they seemed to be too far away. All they could see was a girl fishing on the other side.

"Well, the water doesn't look too deep. We should be able to wade our way across from here." Charmander looked like it was about to have a heart attack from Red's decision. "Sorry, I meant that _I_ can wade across while _you_ can wait in the safety of your Pokéball."

Charmander let out a sigh of relief as Red pulled out his Pokéball and called him back in. Red then proceeded to cross the river holding Charmander's Pokéball above his head. The water was deeper than he thought, going up to his waist. When he got to the other side he also found that the water had pushed him closer to the fishing girl.

"You really shouldn't cross the river like that." The girl said to him, as he stepped back onto dry land.

"I made it across just fine."

"You lucked out. A Water Pokémon could have knocked you over and you could have drowned. Not to mention that Charmander of yours would have drifted away into the sea."

"I didn't think of that. I'll have to keep that in might next time I-"

"Hold on, I got something." The girl tried to pull in her line, but whatever she caught was too strong for her. "Don't just stand there, help me!"

Together they were able to pull up the line, but to both of their surprise it wasn't a Water Pokémon on the line, but a girl. She appeared to be a little younger than Red and had long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. The girl that had been fishing lowered her ear to the unconscious girl's mouth.

"She's still breathing, but only barely. We need to get her to a hospital!"

* * *

Despite both of their protests, Ash and Carmine were unable to convince Ash's mother not to make them go together. And because of that, they were now running for their lives together from a flock of angry Spearow.

"Can't you stop them with your Pokémon?" Ash yelled at Carmine.

"You and your Pikachu are the ones who caused this! You stop them!"

"What's Pikachu going to do against them?"

"It's an Electric-type. They're Flying-types. You just graduated from school, right? You figure it out!"

"Oh, right." Ash stopped running and turned to face the flock. "Pikachu! Thundershock!"

The Pikachu desperately clinging on to Ash's shoulder didn't react to his command. Before Ash could go back to running, the Spearow caught up to him and started attacking him from every side.

"Come on, really." Carmine stopped and reached down to one of the Pokéballs around his belt. Before he called out the Pokémon inside, however, he was stopped by a huge burst of electricity that shot out from inside the flock of Spearow.

Pikachu let out another surge of electricity, knocking all but one of the Spearow to the ground, unconscious. The last remaining Spearow had now become even angrier than before and continued its assault on Ash, and Pikachu didn't have enough energy for another attack. In order to defend himself and his Pikachu, Ash reached into his backpack and pulled out the first thing he could grab out of it and threw the object at his attacker. Two seconds later and the Spearow had been successfully caught inside of the Pokéball.

Carmine helped pull Ash back up onto his feet. "Well, I've got to say kid; that was actually kind of impressive, almost. I think I understand why your mom wanted me to go with you now, though. I could only imagine what could have happened if I wasn't here."

"What are talking about? You didn't do anything!"

"We should keep moving. It looks like there's a storm coming."

"Don't change the subject!"

* * *

As it happens, there really was a storm coming, as Daisy Oak found out the hard way. The rain came down hard as she tried to shield herself with her bag.

"Maybe I should have gone with Gary." She muttered to herself. "I'm sure he's nice and warm in dad's car right now."

She continued trudging through the rain for a while, but then she heard the sound of thunder and saw a lightning bolt fall from the sky.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." She said sarcastically.

After a while, the storm finally cleared up, just as she came within visual range of Viridian City.

"Finally, things are starting to look up." She continued walking towards the city but then slipped into a muddy ditch.

"Oh! Come! On! I'm sopping wet, I've been walking for hours, the sun is already starting to go down, and now this. I just got this dress and now it's ruined."

Daisy didn't bother getting back up at first. She just stared up at the setting sun. Eventually, she began to laugh.

"If I can make it through this, then I can make it through anything you can throw at me, world! I _will_ continue my journey! I _will_ take on the Gym challenges! I _will_ enter the Pokémon League!"

She got up and climbed out of the ditch, then pointed a finger up to the sky and exclaimed at the top of her lungs:

"Look out, world! Daisy Greenleaf Oak has got your number, and she's _not_ calling you back!"

She then lowered her hand back down again.

"Wait, no, that didn't make any sense."

Her hand shot back into the air again.

"Look out, world! I will accept! No! Refunds! No, that was stupid."

Daisy continued trying to come up with a good one-liner all the way to Viridian, but couldn't come up with anything.


	3. Chapter 3

Gary walked into the Pokémon Center with pride. He had just started his journey earlier that day and now he already had four Pokémon. In addition to his Squirtle and the Rattata he caught, he also managed to catch a Pidgey and a Spearow.

"Welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center." The nurse waiting at the main desk said. "Would you like to heal your Pokémon back to perfect health?"

Gary put his four Pokéballs in the tray the nurse held out him. She put the tray into the large machine next to her and after a moment took the tray back out and held it out to him.

"Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon back to perfect health. We hope to see you again!"

"What do you mean?" Gary asked as he took his Pokéballs back. "Are you saying you want my Pokémon to get hurt so I need to come back?"

"Not at all. You are clearly a Pokémon Trainer, and in your line of work, it is inevitable that your Pokémon will eventually need healing again. What I meant was that I hope you come back here when that happens."

"I guess that makes sense. It still seems odd to say, though."

Gary turned around and began to walk back out. As he reached the door he turned again and spoke. "Smell you later."

Outside, his chaperones were waiting for him. By now he was pretty sure he knew most of their names.

Mallory, or "Mal", had curly, dark red hair. She had been Gary's father's campaign manager when he ran for mayor and had now more or less become the de-facto leader of the group.

Katherine, aka "Kat", had long, brown hair and a notable tan. She was Gary's cousin from his mother's side. She had just returned home from her own Pokémon Journey around Kanto a few weeks ago.

Ciel's hair was an odd blue color that Gary was pretty sure was dyed. She was Mallory's younger sister.

Cleo's had black hair that she kept in a bob-cut. She was trying to form a career as a singer but hadn't had any success.

Sue, short for Susan, had long, purple hair. She was a competitive swimmer with aspirations of entering the Pokélypics.

And finally, there was Alice, or Ali. Her hair was short and brown. She was Gary's father's secretary.

Right now, all six were wearing cheerleader outfits for no discernible reason.

"What are you wearing and why are you wearing it?"

"You're going to challenge the Gym Leader now, right?" Mal answered.

"Yes..." Gary couldn't tell where they were going with this.

"We're going to cheer you on in your match!" Kat chimed in.

Gary just sighed and started walking towards the gym. When he got there he found that it was closed.

"Hey, what gives?" Gary kicked the door in frustration. "I came all the way here and the gym isn't even open!"

"The Gym's been closed for a while," said an old man sitting in front of the building, "no one was seen the Gym Leader in quite some time."

"Then how is anyone supposed to get the Gym Badge?"

"If he doesn't show up soon, the Pokémon League officials will assign a new Leader. You also only need eight of the fifteen badges available in Kanto to take part in the Pokémon League tournament, if that's what you want."

"Alright, fine. Come on girls, let's find a hotel."

* * *

Red and the girl who had been fishing earlier were sitting in the waiting room of the Viridian Medical Emergency Center.

"My name's Red, by the way." He had just realized they had not introduced each other yet.

"I'm Misty."

A man walked into the waiting room.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Sallow. Are you the ones who brought in the girl?"

"Yes. Is she going to be alright?" Misty asked the doctor.

"Yes, she's going to be just fine. You got her here just in time. She's resting right now, but should be able to leave tomorrow."

"That's a relief."

The doctor left to check on another patient, leaving Red and Misty alone again.

"Hey, Red," Misty turned to the young trainer, "Can you stay here to see her when they let her out?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I have to get back home to Cerulean, so I won't be able to stay myself." Misty pulled out what looked like a business card and wrote something on the back. "I want you to call me when they let her out. I want to know who she is and how she's doing." She handed the card to Red who took it from her.

"Wow, I've been a Trainer for less than a day and I've already got a girl giving me her number."

Misty shot him a death glare.

"I was only joking. I'll call when she gets out." He looked down at the card and his mouth dropped for a second. "Hold on, you're a Gym Leader?"

"Well, one of four, actually. My sisters and I share the title. But if I leave them alone for too long they get lazy and just hand out the Cascade Badge to trainers instead of accepting Gym Challenges and letting the trainers earn it. I've got to get back to make sure they actually do their job."

* * *

When Daisy finally made it to Viridian City, the sun had already fallen. She pulled a map and her address book out of her bag and began searching the city for something. Finally, she found it; Viridian City's Pallet House. She walked inside and was greeted by the receptionist and the front desk.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pallet House."

"Hello. I'd like an overnight room for one."

The receptionist seemed friendly enough but his mannerisms suggested that he did not like the idea of a dirty, mud-covered kid staying here. His expression changed, however, when she handed him a small, plastic card.

"This is a VIP membership card. Where did you get this?"

"Mrs. Ketchum gave it to me as a gift when I left to start my Pokémon Journey this morning."

"You know the owner?"

"Yes, she's my neighbor. I'm also friends with her son and I worked at the original Pallet House last summer. Oh, and my dad's a major stockholder in the company."

The receptionist just stared at her for a moment; trying to comprehend how this mud-covered little girl could be so important to the company he'd been working at for years.

"So, can I have my room?"

"R-right, of course. Can I get a name?"

"Daisy Oak."

After a moment of entering her information into a computer, he handed the card back to Daisy and gave her a room key. "Enjoy your stay at the Pallet House."

"Thank you." Daisy took her card and the key and headed up the stairs.

"I can't believe that just happened." The receptionist muttered to himself. Just then the front door opened again and a boy came in followed by six women.

"We need some rooms." The boy said as he walked up to the desk and held out a VIP card.

"N-name?"

"Gary Oak."

* * *

When Ash and Carmine made it to Viridian City, Ash insisted that they stay at the Pokémon Center. When Carmine asked why they needed to stay there, Ash answered that the Pokémon Center offers free lodging for Pokémon Trainers. Carmine pointed out that they could stay at the Pallet House for free too, and that they would have better accommodations. Ash's reply was something along the lines of 'that not being the genuine Pokémon experience' and that was the end of that argument.

While Ash was sleeping in the dorm room along with all the other Trainers there that night, Carmine chose to walk around the city instead. He had been having problems with insomnia for years and found that walking around outside for a while before going to bed helped him sleep.

As Carmine walked by an alleyway, he happened to turn and see two suspicious looking people standing there in familiar looking uniforms. There were a man, a woman and a Meowth standing on its hind legs.

"Team Rocket." Carmine muttered to himself as he moved out of view from the alley. "What are they doing here?"

He peered into the ally again and was relieved to see that they hadn't noticed him. He tried listening in on their conversation.

"And then we nab all da Pikachu's that are in da Pokémon Center 'cause of da storm." Carmine thought he had seen everything, but a talking Meowth just proved him wrong.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The woman said, walking out of the alley and straight into Carmine.

"And where do you think you're going?" Carmine asked the trio.

"That's none of your business." The man said.

"You're wearing Team Rocket uniforms. That makes it my business."

"And you do think you are, talking to _us_ like that?" The woman pointed an accusatory finger at Carmine's chest.

"My name is Carmine Noir."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"It should. I guess Team Rocket must have changed their uniform policies. I thought white was reserved for the higher-ups."

"Why you… Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world of devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

Carmine had to hold back his laughter. "What was that?"

"It was our motto. Now take this! Ekans!"

"Koffing!"

The two sent out their Pokémon, a snake and a ball filled with gas, respectively.

"Not even evolved? You must be really low-ranked grunts." Carmine let out a chuckle.

"So what, I doubt you even have any Pokémon to defend yourself." James said.

Carmine pulled out a Pokéball. "I think I'll have a bit of fun with you. Sneasel, use Beat Up."

The small, black Pokémon came out of its Pokéball already ready to attack. It took a swipe at Ekans and then immediately returned to its Pokéball. And then, one by one, each of Carmine's other Pokémon came out of their Pokéballs, attacked one of Team Rocket's Pokémon, and retreated before Sneasel came out again. By the time Sneasel was back out, both Ekans and Koffing were lying unconscious on the ground, with Jessie, James and Meowth staring in horror.

"How… How did you…"

"As I said, my name is Carmine Noir. Tell your boss I said I'm looking forward to a rematch someday."


	4. Chapter 4

When Ash woke up the next morning after he started his Pokémon journey, it took him a moment to realize where he was.

"That's right; I'm in the Viridian Pokémon Center… I'm a Pokémon Trainer!"

"One with a penchant for sleeping in." Carmine was sitting at a table to the side of the room, reading a book. "All the other trainers that were staying here last night have already left."

Ash looked around and, sure enough, there was nothing but a bunch of empty bunk beds and the table Carmine was sitting at. Pikachu was resting on the other side of the table.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought if the sounds of everyone else getting up, getting packed and chatting amongst themselves weren't going to wake you up, I wasn't going to be able to. It was pretty loud in here. Besides, I'm just here to keep you out of trouble, if you want to sleep in and fall behind the others then that's your choice."

Ash jumped up with that last statement. "Oh, no! I can't fall behind Gary." He grabbed his backpack and ran to the bathroom to get changed.

"Ah, the rivalries of youth. The constant need to best your fellow trainers, especially the ones you know the best. I remember when I was his age, traveling around the Johto region." Carmine spoke to Pikachu, who clearly wasn't listening. "I had a rival. Both in Pokémon battling and in love. I lost in both. But why am I talking to you? You don't care."

Ash reentered the room, dressed and ready to go.

"Come on, Pikachu! Let's go!" Ash held out his arm for Pikachu to jump on. He didn't.

"Why don't you just keep him in his Pokéball?" Carmine asked Ash as he put his book down and stood up.

"He won't go back in." Ash tried picking Pikachu up but was met with a shock instead.

"Well, this is going to be a long trip." Carmine picked up his own backpack and put on a black beret.

"When did you get that?"

"I stopped by a clothing store this morning and decided to get it. This style is supposed to be popular among veteran Trainers in Unova."

"Why would you care about fashion trends half-way around the world?"

"I just thought it looked good on me. Oh, and I saw the Oak girl there, too."

* * *

West of Viridian City is Route 22, which leads to the Indigo Plateau, home of the Pokémon League. This route is where Gary was now training. Despite its close proximity to Route 1, Route 22 has a different variety of Pokémon that call it home. Among these are Nidoran, which Gary was now caught two of, one male and one female. Another Pokémon from Route 22 is Mankey, one of which is what Gary currently has his sights on.

"Squirtle, use Tackle!"

Squirtle charged up to its opponent, but before its attack could hit, the Mankey countered with a Low Kick, knocking Squirtle off his feet and onto the back of his shell.

"Don't let it make a fool out of you Squirtle! Use Bubble!"

Squirtle let out a stream of bubbles from its mouth that hit the Mankey square in the face. The force of the attack allowed Squirtle to get back onto its feet and Tackle Mankey. This time the attack hit and Mankey was the one who fell down. Making the most of this opportunity, Squirtle Tackled the Mankey again and this time it was knocked out cold. Gary threw a Pokéball at the Pig Monkey Pokémon and caught it with ease.

"Way to go, Squirtle." Gary pet his starter's head as he turned to the Pokéball in his hand. "This Mankey should make a fine addition to our team." Suddenly the Pokéball vanished from his hand. "Wait, what?"

"Pokémon League rules say that Pokémon Trainers can only have six Pokémon with them at a time." Kat explained. "You already have your Squirtle, Rattata, Pidgey, Spearow and those two Nidoran, so the Mankey was automatically sent away. Most likely back to the Pokémon care facility by the Professor's lab back in Pallet."

"I already know that."

"Then what were you confused about?"

"I just don't know how the transfer was able to happen automatically like that."

"Each Pokéball contains information about the Pokémon inside and networks with your Pokédex. When the Pokédex registers six Pokémon as already being with you than any more are sent to whatever care facility that it's set to, where they can be properly cared for by the workers there. That way you, the trainer, can focus on the six you have with you."

"But how do they get it to work. That kind of teleportation can't be easy."

Kat just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a trainer, not a scientist."

The others had similar reactions to his question.

* * *

Red was still sitting in the hospital waiting room when Doctor Sallow entered the room, this time with the girl standing next to her.

"The doctor says you saved my life. Thank you." The girl gave a slight bow as she spoke.

"Misty's the one that fished you out of the river, I just helped. It's her you need to thank."

The girl looked around. "Where is she?"

"She had to go home, but she gave me her number so that we can call her and let her know you're alright. I'm Red, by the way."

"My name's Yellow… I think."

Red looked at her, puzzled.

"Yellow seems to have lost all memory from before you pulled her out of the river." The doctor explained. "Unfortunately, without knowing who she is for sure, we can't contact her family to pick her up."

"Well, that… doesn't sound good."

"We can't send her on her own, so if we can't find her family then we're going to have to send Yellow into child services."

Yellow looked up at Doctor Sallow and spoke. "I want to go with Red."

Both the doctor and Red were surprised by this statement. The doctor scratched his clean-shaven scalp as he tried to think of the right way to tell her why that wouldn't work.

"We can't send you with Red. We need to find someone who knows you."

"I want to go with Red." Yellow said again. "He saved my life, and he feels…" Yellow trailed off like she couldn't find the right word, "good."

"This is highly irregular." Doctor Sallow interjected.

"You're traveling the region, right?" She asked Red.

"Yes, but how did you know-" Yellow cut him off before he could finish.

"So if I go with you, then you can help me find my family, wherever they are."

"That does make sense, I guess."

Doctor Sallow continued to point out why she couldn't go with Red, but it was no use. Finally, he relented and Red and Yellow left the hospital side by side.

* * *

After yesterday's storm, Daisy decided that a change in wardrobe was needed if she was to continue her journey. Before, she had not taken into consideration the physical taxation her journey would have on clothing, so she had worn a simple green dress; a dress that had already been ruined by the rain and her fall into the mud puddle yesterday. But now Daisy had more of an idea of what she was doing, she had just purchased new clothes better suited to her journey.

As she left Viridian to head for Pewter, she wore a blue and black tank top, a red skirt and a white sun hat with pink trim designed after a Premier Ball. And most importantly, a good pair of running shoes that would serve her well. Going around Kanto would require a lot of walking, after all, and a lot of running.

She approached the edge of the city and the entrance of Route 2.

"Here we go." She said to herself. "Day 2 of my Pokémon Journey. Let's hope this goes better than yesterday."


	5. Chapter 5

Gary wandered through Viridian Forest, Kat, Mal and Ciel close behind. Ali, Sue and Cleo were taking the car around to Pewter City the long way. As Gary crept through the tall grass of the forest floor trying to sneak up on any wild Pokémon he could find, he was startled by the arrival of a kid in strange attire.

"You there! Trainer! I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!" The kid shouted so loud he hurt Gary's ears.

"Who are you?"

"I am Samurai, of the Viridian Forest!" Sure enough, the kid was wearing what appeared to be a recreated suit of feudal era samurai armor.

"Who's your shogun?"

"My what?" 'Samurai' was visibly thrown off by Gary's question.

"Your shogun. All samurai serve a master known as a shogun. If you're a samurai, then who's your shogun?"

"I serve no master but the forest!"

"Well, if you don't serve a shogun then you can't be a samurai. A ronin, maybe, but not a samurai."

"Fine!" The kid clearly just wanted to be battling already. "Then I am Ronin of the Viridian Forest! So, do accept my challenge or not?"

"Sure. I don't see why not. What are the terms?"

"A one-on-one duel is all that I ask of you!"

Both trainers' called out their Pokémon. Gary sent out his Mankey, while 'Ronin' sent out a Scyther. 'Ronin' made the first move.

"Gary! Gary! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"

Both Gary and 'Ronin' just stared at the three girls.

"I thought I told you not to do that." Gary said to them.

"Yeah, but Mal said we needed to anyway." Was Ciel's response.

"Mal isn't here, is she?"

"No."

"Then don't do the cheer." Gary turned back to his opponent. "Now, where were we?"

"Scyther! Use Focus Energy!" 'Ronin' shouted at his Pokémon, who drew in power for its next attack.

"Mankey, Scratch!"

Mankey clawed at the Scyther until Scyther returned the favor with its Fury Cutter. The Bug-type move didn't do very much against the Fighting-type Mankey, but the barrage of strikes was able to knock Mankey down. It got up and tried to counter with Low Kick to knock the Scyther off its feet, but Scyther just took to the air with its wings.

"Now is your chance, Scyther! Quick Attack!"

Scyther dove down and slammed into Mankey at top speed.

"Don't just sit there and take it, Mankey! Use Scratch!"

Mankey clawed the Scyther's wing before it could get back out of range, forcing the Scyther back onto the ground. Mankey then followed that up with a Low Kick and another Scratch, defeating the Scyther.

"That was a very good battle!" 'Ronin' said.

"Speak for yourself. That was barely a warmup."

"Who are you, that you were able to beat me so easily?"

"The name's Gary Oak, from Pallet Town."

"From Pallet Town? Then I shall regain my lost honor by defeating all trainers from Pallet Town!"

"What lost honor? It was just a Pokémon battle."

'Ronin' stormed off without answering Gary's question. Gary just sighed and moved on.

* * *

Daisy was walking through the Viridian Forest when she spotted a Caterpie sleeping on a tree. She thought it looked adorable so she threw a Pokéball at it and caught her first Pokémon. Walking a bit further into the forest she encountered another Caterpie and decided to try out her new Pokémon.

"Come on out, Caterpie." She sent it out and discovered to her dismay that Caterpie was still sleeping. The wild Caterpie Tackled hers, knocking it over, but not waking it up.

"Caterpie, wake up!"

The wild Caterpie Tackled Daisy's again and woke it up this time. Daisy's Caterpie Tackled the wild one and was able to knock it out in one hit.

"That was a close. I thought for a moment you weren't going to wake up at all."

Daisy's Caterpie then started shooting its String Shot straight into the air over its head, covering itself in a chrysalis.

"What are you doing?" Daisy pulled out her Pokédex. "Wait, you're evolving? Already?"

Just then a boy in samurai armor came out of seemingly nowhere.

"You! Are you from Pallet Town?"

"Y-yes…" Daisy wasn't really sure what to make of this strange boy.

"Then I, Samurai of the Viridian Forest, challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!"

"A samurai? So do you serve a Shogun then?"

'Samurai' put his palm to his forehead. What were the odds that two trainers in a row would point out that flaw in his self-appointed title?

"I am Ronin of the Viridian Forest, then!"

"Okay, 'Ronin'. How is this battle going down?"

"I see you have a Metapod!" 'Ronin' pointed to the newly evolved Pokémon in front of Daisy. "Then the battle shall be your Metapod against mine!" He called out his own Metapod.

Metapod cannot move and their only attack is Harden, which makes it more durable, but is not an actual attack. As such, the battle went on for a very long time.

* * *

Red and Yellow entered the Viridian Forest. Red still wasn't really sure about letting Yellow go with him. He looked down at his companion as they walked and she looked back up at him with a huge smile. He just couldn't say no to that. They continued walking along the path leading through it until they came to a fork in the path.

Red pulled out his map to see which way they needed to go to get to Pewter City. Yellow looked around as he did so and for a moment he thought she saw a flash of movement up in the trees.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"Never mind, it was probably nothing."

* * *

Daisy and 'Ronin' were still waiting for something to happen in their battle when suddenly Daisy's Metapod began to glow brightly. A crack formed along its back and a Butterfree burst out from its pre-evolved form's shell. Time seemed to stand still for Daisy as her majestic Pokémon rose up, covered in the glittering dust. It was a magnificent sight to behold. A wave of purple energy emitted from Butterfree's antennae and the Psychic attack sent Metapod flying into 'Ronin', knocking him back into a tree.

"Fine! I admit defeat!" 'Ronin' got back up and called back his Metapod into its Pokéball, then walked off.

"You're so cool!" Daisy hugged her new Butterfree. "Catching you was the best thing I've ever done! I can't believe that… wait. Are you already sleeping again?"

Daisy could not believe it. Her beautiful and powerful Butterfree was apparently narcoleptic.

"Okay. It looks like catching you may have been a mistake after all. Oh well."

* * *

After Red finally picked which way to go, he ran into the kid in samurai armor.

"You are from Pallet Town, are you not?" The kid asked him.

"Yes, but how did you know that?"

"I am Samurai of the Viridian Forest. I challenge you to a one-on-one Pokémon battle!"

"Okay, you're on." Red pulled out a Pokéball.

"Go! Heracross!" 'Samurai' sent out his Pokémon.

"Charmander." Red was rather unenthusiastic with this fight. He was more confused by the kid randomly dressed up as a samurai.

"Heracross! Use Horn Attack!"

The blue beetle Pokémon rammed into Charmander with its giant horn.

"Charmander, use Ember."

Charmander let out a small puff of fire burned Heracross. Heracross Tackled Charmander, but Charmander just used Ember again a few times and the battle was one.

"No! I can't believe this! How could I lose three battles in a row?" 'Samurai' was no longer trying to hide his distress like he had after losing to both Gary and Daisy.

"Hey, don't feel too bad about it. We all run into bad luck sometimes." Red tried to comfort 'Samurai', who looked like he was about to break down crying. "You said three battles, right?"

"That is correct! I have challenged three trainers from Pallet Town today and lost every battle!"

"Three trainers from Pallet. That means you have one left. Just do your best and I'm sure you can do it."

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course!" Yellow chimed in, in her usual cheery fashion.

* * *

A lone Pikachu looked over the trainers below from the treetops. "That's definitely her." She thought to herself.

"I've found her at last, but what do I do now? Do I contact her? She doesn't seem to know who she is. Can I expect her to know who I am? The boy with her looks like he should be able to take care of her, but what if _he_ comes for her? The boy won't be able to protect her from _him_. No one can."

Red and Yellow continued on their way again, the samurai boy heading in the opposite direction. The Pikachu hopped from one branch to another in pursuit.

"There's no telling what could happen. I should just follow from a distance. This is for the best."


	6. Chapter 6

Jessie, James and Meowth walked into a dark room. Inside the room was a large empty chair and a Persian lying beside it. After a moment, a man and woman both walked in from the other side of the room. The man sat in the chair while the woman stood next to it.

"What was so important that you needed to interrupt my morning work out?" The man grumbled out to the trio. "My Hitmonlee doesn't like it when our sparring matches are interrupted, and neither do I."

"Wells, ya see, Mr. Giovanni, sir…" The words stumbled out from the incredibly nervous Meowth. "We's tried ta take a bunch a' Pikachu's dat's were in da Viridian City Pokémon Center, but before we could even gets to da Center, some guy shows up and wiped da floor wit' us."

"And did this 'guy' have a name?"

"He said his name was Carmine… something." It was James that spoke now.

"Carmine Noir?" Giovanni's interested was perked by this revelation.

"Yes, that was it." Jessie was surprised by her boss' reaction.

"That is interesting news. I never thought he'd leave his comfortable life in that backwater town of his."

"You's know's him?"

"Of course I know Carmine. He could prove a hindrance to our plans. Mallory." He turned to the woman at his side. "Send word, we need to move up the timetable for Project Dark."

"Yes, sir! But, our top scientists are already working as hard as they can."

"Then they will have to work even harder. Carmine is active again, there are probably others that will try to get in our way and our spies report that the International Police are on their way right now. I want results by the end of the month."

"What about us?" James asked their leader.

"You three are to report in with our operatives in Mt. Moon. There are a number of important assets that need to be recovered."

* * *

Ash and Carmine made their way through the Viridian Forest. Their trek through the woods was rather uneventful until they encountered a strange boy in samurai armor.

"You! You are the last trainer from Pallet Town, are you not?"

"Last? You mean the others have already made it past here?" Ash was dismayed by this revelation.

"Yes! I, Samurai of the Viridian Forest have challenged each of the Pallet Town trainers as they passed by here and so far have lost to everyone! But not this time! I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!"

"The others all beat you. Then this should be easy. I accept your challenge. Pikachu! I choose you!"

The yellow rodent hopped off of Ash's shoulder. It still didn't like its trainer, but at least it would listen to him now.

"I made the mistake of not using my strongest Pokémon against the others! But I will not make that mistake again! Come out, Pinsir!"

The large, brown beetle came out of its Pokéball. It gave Pikachu a menacing look and the battle began. Pinsir opened with a Vice Grip, catching Pikachu between the two large, spiked pincers on the top of its head. Pikachu tried to shock the Pinsir to weaken its grip so that it could get free, but it was no use. The shocks only made the Pinsir squeeze harder. Eventually, it became too much and Pikachu fainted.

"No! Pikachu!" Ash ran to grab his Pokémon.

"At last!" 'Samurai' jumped up in joy. "I have achieved victory!" He called back his Pinsir and walked off while Ash rushed over to his unconscious Pokémon.

"You have a Potion, right Carmine?" When Ash didn't get an answer he looked around and couldn't find Carmine anywhere. "Carmine?"

* * *

As a plane landed at the Viridian Airport, most of its passengers were looking forward to going home, going on vacation or visiting friends. They were all unaware of the dark dealings going on in the Kanto region, all but one man. The man would tell you his name, but that would be a violation of international law. He went by the code-name of Looker and he was a member of the International Police.

Looker got off the plane with the other passengers and as he entered the airport terminal he pulled a large, manila envelope from the inside of his light brown trench coat. He pulled a photo out of the envelope and looked around for the man in the photo. He found the red-headed man dressed in black and wearing a hat and sunglasses, sitting on a bench at the other end of the terminal. Looker walked over and sat on the bench, next to him.

"I want to be the very best, like no one ever was." The man did not turn to Looker as he spoke.

"To catch them is your real test; to train them is your cause." Looker responded.

"Are you Agent Looker?" The man turned to him now.

"Ja, yes. You are my informant, are you not?"

"You can call me 'Dragon'."

"Well, Dragon, what news have you for me?"

"Team Rocket is back. There have been sightings in almost every major city in the region."

"That, I already know. It is the reason I have returned to this country."

Dragon looked around. "We'll need to go somewhere more private before I can tell you any more than that. You never know when they might be listening."

"I know of such a place."

* * *

On the outskirts of Viridian City, there was an old run down building with a sign outside saying 'Beladonis Investigations'.

"It is not much, but it is the International Police safe house." Looker told his informant as they went inside. "The other agents should be arriving here later this week and we can clean it back up. Now, what is it that you could not tell me at the airport?"

"Rumor has it that it was Giovanni that resurrected Team Rocket, but we don't know why yet."

"I should have known that it would be him."

"I've heard you were part of the team that took down Team Rocket before."

"That was one of my first assignments." Looker had an almost wistful tone to his voice as he recalled his past. "I was placed under the supervision of our team leader, Agent Beladonis. I told him that letting Giovanni go was a mistake, but he would not listen to the words of a rookie."

"Why did they let him go?"

"It was a part of the deal. He and the other members that went along with him were let free with all charges dropped in return for the names of all other members including their leader. We all thought that would be the end Team Rocket, but we were just being naïve. In our line of work, that can cost lives."

* * *

After looking around for a while, Ash finally managed to find Carmine.

"Where were you?" Ash asked him, furiously.

"Sorry. I had some business to attend to, if you know what I mean. How'd your battle go?"

"How do you think?" Ash held out his unconscious Pikachu.

"That bad, huh? Well, it's nothing a Revive shouldn't be able to fix." He pulled a small, yellow gem out of his bag and placed it on Pikachu's head. The gem glowed brightly and dissolved while Pikachu slowly woke up.

"It sounds like you might need to do some more training." Carmine paused for a moment. "Or any training for that matter. This was your first actual battle wasn't it?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Kid, training is important. You won't get far if you don't train."

"But the longer I wait, the further ahead the others get."

"This isn't a race. You're all going to enter into the Pokémon League. When that happens it will be a matter of who worked the hardest, not who got there the fastest."

"But can't I train later, after I'm ready to enter the Pokémon League, but before the tournament starts?"

"You could. But you need Gym Badges if you want to get into the Pokémon League and they don't just hand those out. You need to be able to win, and not just against Gym Leaders. There will other trainers challenging you, or even that you challenge, and you're going to want to win. There are also dangerous people out there like Team Rocket that you will need to defend yourself and others from."

"Team Rocket? But didn't the police stop them years ago?"

"Never mind that right now. We're training, whether you want to or not."


	7. Chapter 7

Gary walked into the Pewter City Gym. The inside of the building was lined with rocks and the Gym Leader stood at the opposite end of the main hall. He was a young man with dark brown hair and a seemingly permanent squint.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle!" Gary pointed his finger dramatically at the Gym Leader.

"I accept your challenge." The Gym Leader spoke. "I'm Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. My rock-hard willpower is evident even in my Pokémon. That's right; I specialize in the Rock-type. This will be a one-on-one match, show me your best!"

"Rock type, huh? This should be easy then."

Gary sent out his Squirtle and Brock sent out a Geodude, and then the battle began. Gary opened by having Squirtle use Bubble while Brock's Geodude used Harden to strengthen its defense. Geodude then used Tackle on Squirtle which knocked him into a rock. Squirtle returned the favor with its own Tackle, which barely affected the Rock Pokémon. Geodude Tackled Squirtle again, slamming him into the ground.

"Squirtle!" Gary yelled to his Pokémon. "It's time for your new move!"

Squirtle nodded at his Trainer and faced the opposing Geodude. It shot a stream of water from its mouth with Water Gun. The Geodude was severely affected by the attack and collapsed to the ground.

"Good job." Brock said as he walked over to Gary. "As proof of your victory against me, I give you the Boulder Badge." He handed the small rock-shaped badge to Gary.

"Gary! Gary! He's our man! If he can't do it no one can!"

Gary ignored his cheerleaders as he took the Boulder Badge and held it up to the light flowing in from the windows just below the ceiling.

"One down, seven to go."

* * *

Ash was sprawled out on the ground with his Pikachu on one side and his Spearow on the other. They had been training almost non-stop since Ash's battle with 'Samurai' and they had finally been given a break for a few minutes.

"I never knew… that training… would be so… hard." Ash said between deep breaths.

"What, did you think it would be easy?" Said Carmine, who was sitting on a nearby rock.

"No... But I didn't... think it would be... so involved."

"The best way to bond with your Pokémon is to experience part of what they go through. By being more directly involved in their fights when training, you can get a better idea of their abilities and they learn to respect you more."

"Is that true?" Ash asked his Pokémon.

"Pika."

"Spear."

Both Pokémon seemed to nod back.

"It's also good to focus on their individual strengths. So far, it looks like your Pikachu is good all around, while your Spearow has a focus on physical strength. Keep that in mind."

* * *

Daisy decided to visit the Pewter City Museum before heading off to the Gym. She was admiring the fossilized remains of several ancient Pokémon when a strange man in a white coat and glasses approached her.

"Excuse me, miss. You wouldn't happen to be a Pokémon Trainer, would you?"

"I am." Daisy wasn't sure what to make of the man.

"Great. Could I ask a favor of you?"

"Maybe…"

"I have recently found a sample of Old Amber that seems to contain trace amounts of DNA from an ancient Pokémon. We don't have the equipment to analyze it properly here, so I was wondering if you could take it to a colleague of mine at Cinnabar Laboratories on Cinnabar Island. I'd do it myself but I'm too busy here at the museum. I tried mailing it, but the postal service apparently doesn't allow the transportation of this sort of thing for some reason."

"I'll probably be heading there eventually. I guess I can take it."

"Oh, great! Thank you so much." He handed her a small box. "This is the box I tried mailing it in. The Amber is still inside. My associate's name is Doctor Crichton. It's written on the address label in case you forget. Oh, and my name's Seymour, by the way." He then nodded and walked away, back to his work.

"What did I just get myself into?" Daisy muttered to herself, looking at the box in her hand and putting it in her bag.

* * *

After resting for a while, Ash was about to resume his training with Carmine when they both heard some rustling in the nearby bushes. They both looked over to it just in time to see 'Samurai' walk out of them.

"What are you still doing here?" Ash and 'Samurai' both asked each other at the same time.

"I am wandering the forest looking for more trainers to challenge!" 'Samurai' answered.

"Then how about a rematch?"

"I fail to see the point in fighting someone I already know I can beat!"

"I've been training hard since then. I can win this time."

"Fine then! With that kind of arrogance you deserve to be beaten again!"

"Oh, we'll see who's being arrogant."

'Samurai' sent out his Pinsir again, while Ash sent out his Spearow this time. Pinsir opened with Vice Grip like last time, but Spearow was able to dodge the attack easily by flying upwards. It then looped around Pinsir and hit it from behind with Peck.

Pinsir tried to catch Spearow with Vice Grip again, but again Spearow dodged and Pecked him from behind again. At this point 'Samurai' decided that it was time to change tactics and ordered his Pinsir to use Focus Energy, drawing in power for its next attack. As soon as Spearow came in range to try and Peck again, Pinsir grabbed Spearow with its arms and used Seismic Toss, throwing Spearow into the ground.

Spearow was barely able to get back up. It managed to dodge another Vice Grip and fly back around Pinsir again. This time instead of Peck it used Fury Attack, hitting the Pinsir multiple times in quick succession. Pinsir was knocked down by the attack and did not get back up again.

"Yes! I won!" Ash jumped for joy at his victory, before using a Potion on Spearow.

"Fine, then! I admit defeat! It would appear that I was the arrogant one after all!" 'Samurai took off his helmet and held it in front of himself. "Perhaps dressing up as a samurai was not my key to victory after all." He was no longer shouting everything he said. "Know this, trainer from Pallet Town: the next time we meet I shall defeat you again."

"I never introduced myself, did I?" Ash realized. "My name is Ash Ketchum, and I will become a Pokémon Master." He held out his hand and 'Samurai' shook it.

"I am Rick Abner, Bug-type master in training."

As Rick walked off, Ash noticed that Spearow was beginning to glow. Before his eyes, the small bird grew until it was slightly larger than him.

"What just happened?" Ash asked aloud in amazement.

"That? That was evolution. You _did_ go to school, right?" Carmine answered him.

"Yeah, of course." Ash tried to pretend he already realized that. "I've just never seen it in person."

"I'm actually kind of impressed. Fearow are normally just less than four feet tall, but this one looks more around five feet. I looked a bit bigger than the other Spearow in its flock, but not nearly this impressive."

* * *

Red and Yellow asked around Pewter City to see if anyone knew who Yellow was, but no one recognized her. So, Red was now going to challenge the Gym. He entered the building with Yellow following him so she could watch his battle.

"Are you the Gym Leader?" Red asked the man standing at the end of the rocky battle hall.

"That's right; I'm Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. I specialize in the Rock-type."

Red looked down at the Pokéball in his hand. Charmander was a Fire-type, and Fire was weak to Rock. He decided to risk the type weakness.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

"Challenge accepted. This will be a one-on-one match." Brock sent out a Geodude and Red sent out his Charmander.

Charmander took one look at Geodude and turned back to Red with a worried expression.

"I have a plan, Charmander." Red assured his Pokémon. "Start off with Growl."

The Charmander opened his mouth wide and let out a high pitched Growl that intimidated the Geodude so that it would not hit as hard. Geodude used Defense Curl to make itself more resistant to damage. Charmander tried hitting it with his Scratch, but the attack did almost nothing.

Geodude rammed into Charmander with a Tackle and knocked him back a few inches. Charmander let out another Growl before the Geodude Tackled him again, but was still knocked to the ground. Charmander got back up but was hit by another Tackle.

Red checked his Pokédex, desperate to find anything Charmander could do against the Rock Pokémon. Looking through Charmander's attacks, he spotted one he didn't expect.

"Charmander!" He shouted. "Use Metal Claw!"

Charmander stood back up again and closed its eyes in concentration. Geodude was about to attack but stopped when it noticed that Charmander's right paw was beginning to glow a bright silver color. Charmander opened its eyes and charged at the stunned Geodude, a fierce determination in its eyes. Charmander pulled its arm up and struck its opponent with an uppercut of metal. Before Geodude had time to react, Charmander struck again, this time striking downward to knock Geodude into the ground.

Geodude let out a faint "Dude…" as it tried to get back up again, but failed.

"Geodude is unable to battle." Brock said. "The match is yours."

Brock walked over to Red and handed him a Badge.

"That was a very impressive fight. Normally a Charmander wouldn't stand a chance against my Geodude, but you proved your Pokémon's power, as well as your own strength as a trainer. You've definitely earned this Boulder Badge."

"Thanks." Red took the Boulder Badge from him and pinned it to the inside of his jacket. "I suppose I should probably catch some more Pokémon though. I can't rely on that kind of luck to get me through every battle."

"That would be a good thing to do. You're probably headed off to Cerulean, next and their Gym has a Water-type specialty. You may have lucked out this time with Metal Claw, but I doubt that Charmander of yours can learn any Grass or Electric-type moves."


	8. Chapter 8

Daisy walked up to the entrance of the Pewter City Gym. This was it, her first Gym Battle. She opened the large double doors and walked into the Gym. She approached the man standing at the opposite end of the main room, who she assumed was the Gym Leader.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

"I accept your challenge, Daisy Oak of Pallet Town."

"How do you my name?" Daisy asked with great surprise.

"As a Gym Leader, I have access to the records of all officially licensed Pokémon Trainers in the Indigo League. I go through those records regularly to see who I'm going to be up against soon and which of my teams to have ready."

"What do you mean by 'which teams'?"

"The role of a Gym Leader is to challenge Pokémon Trainers and make sure that they are ready for the Pokémon League. Trainers of all skill levels can challenge any of us they choose, so we each have multiple teams set up to use based off of how many Gym Badges you've already earned."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Now are we going to battle now or what?"

"Of course. I am Brock the Viridian City Gym Leader and Rock-type specialist. Since you don't have any badges yet this will be a one-on-one battle."

After Brock finished talking, he sent out his Geodude. Daisy called out her Bulbasaur and the battle commenced.

"Open with Leech Seed!" Daisy shouted to her Bulbasaur. The green Pokémon shot out a seed from the bulb on its back that hit the Geodude while it used Defense Curl. Small vines grew out from the seed when it hit, which slowly drained Geodude's energy and transferred it to Bulbasaur. Geodude tried to pull the vines out but was unable to get a hold of them, so it Tackled Bulbasaur was able to brace itself for the hit and countered with a Vine Whip attack. The vines hit Geodude hard and it backed off wearily. Geodude tried to flank Bulbasaur and attack it from behind but to no use. The vines growing out from Bulbasaur's back where able to hit Geodude from any direction. After several hits, Brock's Pokémon was knocked unconscious. The Leech Seed fell off as it hit the ground.

"Good job." Brock said as he walked over to Daisy. "Nice use of Leech Seed to wear the opponent down quickly. Here's your Boulder Badge. You've earned it."

Brock held out the small, gray Badge to Daisy, who took it gratefully and pinned it to her bag's arm strap.

* * *

Ash took a big breath and stretched as he took his first steps out of Viridian Forest. It felt like so long ago since he left home, even though it was only a few days ago. Carmine walked behind him, squinting at the sudden increase of light from no longer having the treetops blocking the sun out. The two made their way to Pewter City, were Ash healed his Pokémon at the Pokémon Center and then immediately went straight to the Gym.

He challenged Brock with his Pikachu and quickly learned how much of a mistake that was. Pikachu was quickly beaten by the Geodude without being able to harm it in the slightest. After the loss and another trip to the Pokémon Center, Carmine took the aspiring trainer to the edge of town.

"You have an extreme disadvantage." Carmine said to Ash. "Geodude has high defense, resists Normal and Flying-type moves and is outright immune to Electric attacks. Fortunately for you, I have a solution."

"What's that?"

"Sneasel!"

The small black Pokémon sped out of Carmine's Pokéball and chopped a large rock in half with a single blow.

"Brick Break is a powerful Fighting-type move. If your Pikachu can learn it, taking down Brock should be a piece of cake."

And so, Carmine got to work trying to teach Pikachu how to use Brick Break. He had Pikachu chop a rock like his Sneasel had done, to no avail. After trying to break the rock for nearly an hour, Pikachu began letting out Thundershocks in frustration. One bolt of electricity shot past Ash and Carmine and they heard a yell behind them.

"My bike!" The red-headed girl looked furious as she held up the fried remains of a bicycle. "You're paying for this!"

"What?"

"That's your Pikachu that destroyed my bike, isn't it? Your Pokémon means your responsibility. You owe me a new bike!"

"But I can't-" Ash started to say.

"You can and you will!" Misty cut him off. "This is non-negotiable."

While Ash and Misty continued arguing about the destroyed bicycle, Carmine stared off into space. Then he spoke.

"Wait a minute!" Ash and Misty both stopped to look at him. "I have an idea!"

"About my bike?"

"What? No, not about that."

* * *

As Red and Yellow left Pewter City and headed out to Route 3, they passed by an old man in a red knit cap selling souvenir rocks by the side of the road.

"Ooh, can we get one?" Yellow grabbed on to Red's arm and looked up to him with her eyes wide.

"They're just rocks." He said back to her, bluntly.

"They're not just any rocks!" The salesman argued. "These are the finest rocks that the Kanto region was to offer, no, that the world has to offer."

"They're still just rocks."

"But have you ever seen a rock that looks like this!" The salesman held out a perfectly normal looking rock.

"Wow!" Yellow gazed in awe upon the utterly plain looking stone.

"That looks just like any other rock."

"It does?" Yellow asked in confusion.

"Of course it does. Do you not know what rocks look like?"

"How should I know?"

Red and Yellow both looked at each other in an awkward silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry. That was rude of me."

"What do you mean?" The salesman asked. "How would you not know if you've seen a rock before?"

"I don't remember anything." Yellow answered. "The doctor said I have amnosia."

"Amnesia." Red corrected her. "We're trying to find anyone who knows who she is."

"That sounds serious." The salesman's voice changed from a man trying to sell useless junk to a man that was thinking of important matters. "So you don't even remember your family? Your parents?"

"Nope, not at all."

Yellow didn't seem as shaken up about it as she probably should, but she was only a child. The true significance of her current condition was lost on her. It was not lost on the salesman, however, who sat quietly in deep thought for a moment before handing the rock he was holding to Yellow.

"Take it. It's on the house. Take anything here you want. After all, as your friend here said, they're just rocks." The man stood up. "I… I have something that I need to do."

He almost seemed to be crying as he began walking back to Pewter City.

"What do you think that was about?" Yellow asked Red.

"I don't know, but it seemed important."

"Well, I hope whatever he needs to do works out."

"Me too."

* * *

"Back so soon?" Brock wasn't expecting the young trainer to be ready for a rematch less than a day after his defeat. He then turned to the girl beside him. "And Misty? What are you doing here?"

"The idiot owes me a new bike." Misty mumbled while trying to disinterestedly look away.

"I know I can beat you this time!" Ash yelled, turning Brock's attention back to him.

"Okay, I guess. Let's see what you've got this time."

Brock sent out his Geodude again and Ash's Pikachu leapt off of his shoulder onto the battlefield.

"Pikachu again? Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Definitely!"

"Alright." Brock shrugged. "Then let the battle begin."

Geodude opened with Defense Curl, as usual, while Pikachu ran up to it at top speed.

"Here we go, Pikachu! Brick Break!"

Pikachu jumped up and swung its tail down, pulling the full force of his strength and momentum into a single blow to Geodude's head. In one blow the rock Pokémon was defeated.

"Well… that was unexpected." Brock was nearly at a loss for words as he pulled out a Boulder Badge to give to Ash. "Sometimes I wish I could be a trainer like you, being able to better myself and my Pokémon. Not just being a challenge for other trainers to overcome." He hadn't meant to complain about his life like that, but the words slipped his mouth.

"Then maybe you should." Everyone turned around to see the old man that had just walked into the Gym. "Maybe it's time you get to be your own man."

"Who are you?" Brock asked the strange old man.

The man replied by taking off the cap he was wearing that obscured the top half of his face.

"Has it really been so long that you don't recognize me?"

"Dad?"


	9. Chapter 9

Looker sat at his desk reading case reports on the information his team had gathered so far. It wasn't much. As he looked through the reports, two people walked into the room, Dragon and a blonde girl that appeared to be somewhere in her mid-to-late teens. Looker peered up at them and put the reports down.

"I believe that I know where they are going to strike next."

"And where would that be?" Asked Dragon, who pulled up a chair and sat down across from Looker.

"Recent geological surveys of Mount Moon have shown a large number of rare fossils, minerals and other highly valuable resources that have until now remained completely unnoticed. I believe that they will try to obtain these resources for themselves."

"What makes you think that?"

"When I met Giovanni briefly during our investigation of the first Team Rocket, I noticed that he does not seem to hold any value in gold. Despite it being the foundation of our global economy, he seems to feel that it will no longer hold any value in the future. As such, it is my belief that he will want to maintain Team Rocket's finances through other assets."

"Then what do you want us to do?" Asked the girl, who was still standing in the doorway.

"I'm glad you asked that, Agent 009. The three of us are going to go to Mount Moon and confront any Team Rocket operatives in the area."

* * *

Ash, Misty, Brock and Brock's father sat around the dining room table in Brock's house. Brock's father, Flint, explained to his son the reason for his absence. Two years ago, after Brock had passed the Gym Leader exam so that he could fill in for Flint when he was gone, Flint decided to take a short break to challenge the Pokémon League himself. He lost in the preliminary rounds and became so ashamed of his defeat that he couldn't bear to show himself to his family again. And so, he opened up his souvenir rock stand and had been running that ever since.

"So what made you finally decide to come back?" Brock asked his father.

"Earlier today I met a girl with no memory of her past. She couldn't even remember her own family. It made me realize what I must be putting you and your brothers and sisters through. Everyone deserves a father that is there for them, but I've been denying that right to all of you for my own selfish ego."

Ash wasn't quite sure why they were here for conversation. It seemed a little too personal to have guests over for. Brock seemed to know Misty, at least, but that didn't explain why Brock invited Ash and Carmine. For that matter, where was Carmine?

"So tell me, Brock, are you willing to give me a second chance to be your father?"

Brock took a moment to answer him.

"I think I can. But I'm not the only one you need to ask."

"I know. But, where _are_ your brothers and sisters?"

"They're all at school right now." Brock looked up at the clock. "Although it's about time to pick them up. You can reintroduce yourself to them there."

* * *

The trio of Jessie, James and Meowth arrived at Mount Moon and were greeted by two other Team Rocket Agents, who were both wearing customized uniforms, a sign of high ranking agents.

"You must be J Squad. We heard you would be meeting up with us." One of the agents said; a large, heavily tanned man with spiky blonde hair. His uniform was light grey and lacked sleeves. He was also wearing sunglasses even though they were in a cave.

"Which one of you is the squad leader?" He looked back and forth between Jessie and James as he asked.

"I'm da top cat here!" Meowth said.

"That is interesting." The other man spoke. He had light grey hair and his uniform was the same shade of grey as the first ones, but with short sleeves and a dark blue shirt underneath. "We've heard rumors of a squad led by a talking Pokémon, but we never thought they were true."

"I'm Attila. My partner over here is Hun." Said the blonde man.

"So what are we doin' here anyways." Meowth asked Attila.

"Legend has it that a meteor crashed into this mountain hundreds of years ago and that it has special evolution-inducing properties. Your assignment is to find and retrieve that meteor at any cost."

"If you run into trouble then call it in. We'll be nearby searching for rare fossils." Hun added.

"Agent Masque is also stationed here." Spoke Attila. "Ah, here she comes now."

Agent Masque walked over to the other Team Rocket members. She wasn't particularly tall, with a slender frame and reddish-brown hair parted on the right. The left half of her face was covered by half of an opera mask. Jessie, James and Meowth all had the feeling there was something distinctly _wrong_ about her.

"What are you all waiting for?" Her voice was almost a monotone. "Get to work."

* * *

Daisy walked slowly along one of the tunnels running through Mount Moon. Going alone through a dark tunnel was definitely not her best idea. She was cold, and only had a flashlight to light her way. After a while, she was finally able to get used to it.

She turned a corner and caught a glimpse of pink for a second before whatever it was moved out of view. She tried to catch up to it, but a sudden earthquake rocked the tunnel and the ground gave out underneath her. She slid down a rocky slope at least twenty feet, letting out a scream of pain as hit the ground.

"Not to self: Never explore a cave without pants."

Her legs were covered with scratches from the fall. She tried to stand up but her left leg gave out under her and she screamed again.

"Not good." She climbed up and sat on a rock. "Although I guess I should try looking on the bright side, at least all those books I read about the medicinal uses of Grass-type Pokémon are about to come in handy."

Daisy was trying not to give into despair in her current situation, but it was hard. She pulled out one of her Pokéballs and called out Bulbasaur from it.

"Okay, Bulbasaur, I need you to listen very closely and do exactly what I tell you. I need you to use Sleep Powder on the cuts in my legs. It's going to sting like crazy at first, so I might scream, but don't stop. The powder will stop the injuries from getting infected and after a few seconds will numb the pain. After that, I'll need you to form a cast around my left leg with your vines. They'll need to be tight, but if their too tight they could cut off the circulation."

Bulbasaur followed her instructions and treated her injuries. After the make-shift cast was formed, Daisy tried to stand up again, Bulbasaur used its vines to help keep her upright. They began walking around to see if they could find the way out but found something else instead.

"Clefairy?" The small, pink Pokémon looked up curiously at Daisy and then down to her leg. It reached out and touched her leg with its fingertip. "Clefairy." A pulse of white light radiated from its finger and spread around Daisy's leg. Daisy could feel the healing energy of Healing Pulse fixing her leg.

"Thank you."

"Clefairy."

With a sense of urgency, the Clefairy gestured for Daisy to follow it. Daisy recalled Bulbasaur into its Pokéball and walked after it. The Clefairy took her to a large opening in the cave where what looked like a giant meteor was resting. A large hole had been blown out of the cave ceiling up above. A blue-haired man, a red-haired woman and a Meowth were trying to dislodge the meteor.

Clefairy launched an attack at the three, drawing their attention.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"It doesn't matter," said the woman, "She's not stopping us."

The Team Rocket trio went through their motto and called out their Ekans and Koffing. Daisy fought them off using her Bulbasaur and Butterfree, with the assistance of Clefairy.

"It looks like we'll need to make a strategic retreat." Jessie said when their Pokémon were defeated.

"But shouldn't we call in the others?" Asked James.

"And let them knows we gots beaten by a twerp like this? No way." Meowth argued. "We'll just say we never found it."

The three ran off, leaving the meteor behind. A group of Clefairy entered the cave from the other side and, seeing that Team Rocket was gone, began to dance in a circle around the meteor. The Clefairy that lead Daisy here gestured for her to join them. She tried to mimic the Clefairys' movements as best as she could. After their dance was done all of the Clefairy began to glow and they evolved. The one that had brought Daisy here walked off and came back carrying an egg, which it handed to Daisy.

"Are you giving this to me?"

"Clefable." The Pokémon nodded.

After Daisy took the egg from the Clefable, it lifted its fingers up, which began to glow. Daisy felt herself being lifted up off of the ground and out through the hole in the ceiling. She was let down gently on the soft grass outside the tunnels.

"I don't know what just happened." Daisy said to herself. "But I do know that I'm never going back into a cave again as long as it can be avoided."

* * *

Inside the Pokémon Center just outside the Pewter side entrance to the tunnels through Mount Moon, Red was getting his Pokémon healed. After the nurse handed them back to him he turned around to see Yellow carrying a large orange fish Pokémon, almost the size of her.

"What-" He started to ask.

"I bought a fish!" She said, as enthusiastic as ever. "The man over there sold to me for 500 Pokédollars."

"Where did you get 500 Pokédollars?"

"The rock salesman said I could take whatever I wanted from his stand, and it didn't look like he was going to come back for it."

Red put his hand up to his forehead.

"In the future, don't take someone's money unless they directly give it to you. And what are you going to do with that Magikarp, anyway? You're not a trainer, so you can't technically have your own Pokémon."

"I can't?" Yellow thought for a moment. "Well, then how about you catch it and I can hold on to it until I _can_ have my own Pokémon."

"I suppose that could work. You really need to think these things through better, though."

Red pulled out an empty Pokéball from his bag and bumped it against the Magikarp. A red light poured out from it and sucked the Pokémon inside. The Pokéball shook a bit in Red's hand and then the button on the front glowed red for a second and faded out. With the Magikarp successfully caught, he handed the Pokéball to Yellow.

"Wow! That was so cool! You need to teach me how to do that!" She looked to the Pokéball in her hands. "I'm going to call you Maggie. Maggie the Magikarp."


	10. Chapter 10

After the tearful reunion between Flint and his children, it was decided that Flint would resume his old position as the Pewter City Gym Leader while Brock would be allowed to go on his own Pokémon Journey. Or rather, to go on Ash's journey.

Brock wasn't really interested in fighting Gyms or entering the Pokémon League. He just wanted to explore and meet new Pokémon. As such, he decided that going with Ash's group would fit better for him than going out on his own. Ash would have objected, but at this point, he figured that people were just going to join up with him no matter what he said and just accepted it.

And so, Ash, Carmine, Misty and Brock set out on their way to Cerulean City, where Ash's next gym battle awaited.

* * *

Red and Yellow made their way through the tunnels of Mount Moon until they began to get tired. Red checked his watch and saw that it was getting late, so he decided they should make camp for the night.

"In a cave?" Yellow questioned this decision.

"Why not? It's not like we can do anything else right now." Red pulled out a sleeping bag from his backpack.

"Wait… How did you have that thing in your backpack?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's clearly too big to have fit in your bag."

"Oh yeah, right. It uses a similar technology as Pokéballs, using matter-to-energy transference to store objects in containers smaller than themselves."

"What kind of energy?"

"I don't know, it's just energy."

"There's no such thing as 'just energy'."

"You don't know what rocks look like, but you know about energy?" Red looked at the girl like he didn't know what to make of her, which he didn't.

"I don't know why I know that either." Yellow shrugged.

"Well, hopefully, it's a sign that you're getting your memory back. I've heard the term 'Pokénergy' used for the Pokéball energy stuff, but I pretty sure that's just slang I don't know the proper term for it." He finally put the sleeping bag in the ground and laid it out. "I've only got the one sleeping bag, so I'll let you use it."

* * *

Ash's group was able to reach the foot of Mount Moon without any trouble along the way.

"Do we have to go through those tunnels?" Misty wined.

"The tunnels are the best way to get past the mountain," explained Brock, "and we can go up against the wild Pokémon along the way."

"Or we could just walk along the road." Carmine pointed out. "It's faster, easier and we don't have to wander around in the dark. I don't really care much, either way. I'm just supposed to make sure that the kid here doesn't get into trouble."

"Don't call me a kid!" Ash yelled angrily.

"I'm almost three times as old as you and I've known your parents since long before you were born. You'll always be a kid to me. Now, which way are we going?"

Ash looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting dark out. "I guess we'll stay at that Pokémon Center over there and decide in the morning."

"Way to be non-committal. You remind me so much of your dad that it's not even funny."

* * *

Red lay awake on the cold cave ground. He couldn't quite fall asleep. In his mind, he was going over all that had happened since he began his journey. He was eventually pulled from his thoughts by the feeling of something crawling over his leg.

Red pulled out his flashlight and saw an orange insect Pokémon with mushrooms sprouting out its back crawling over his legs.

"Well." Red whispered to himself. "Not going to pass this opportunity up."

He pulled an empty Pokéball out of his backpack and tossed it lightly at the Pokémon, which was sucked into it. The ball rattled around a bit and the button flashed red. Red pulled out his Pokédex to check what he caught.

"Let's see… it's a Paras, male, Grass and Bug-type, with the Dry Skin ability. That's lucky. He should be really good against the Cerulean Gym. Wait a minute, wasn't that Misty's Gym?" He reached around in his pockets until he pulled out her card. "Yes, it is. That should be interesting. Wait a minute… I got so caught up in things that I forgot to call her and let her know about Yellow. I guess I know what I'll be doing when we reach the city."

* * *

The girls traveling with Gary, or his 'cheerleaders' as he had taken to calling them in his head, had insisted that they drive past Mount Moon rather than exploring it. Gary was disappointed that he didn't get to see what kinds of Pokémon were there that he could add to his team, but at least there was one good thing to come from it. They managed to reach Cerulean long before Gary was expecting.

He walked into Cerulean City's Gym with his cheerleaders following him. The interior was very different than Pewter's had been. The main hall consisted primarily of a large swimming pool as the battlefield, with a spot on each side for the trainers to command their Pokémon from. To each side of the room was a large set of bleachers.

"I used to train here," said Sue, "for swimming, that is. I'm not really into Pokémon."

"So do you know the Gym Leader then?" Gary asked her, mildly intrigued.

"Yes. Well, three of them anyway."

"Three of them? There's more than one?"

"Cerulean has four Gym Leaders, known as the Sensational Sisters. They rotate through their duties and you only need to battle one to earn the badge. I never really got to know the youngest of them, but I'm good friends with the other three."

"That is interesting."

Before their conversation could continue, a blue-haired girl poked her head out from the water in the pool.

"Hey, Sue! Is that you?" She asked. "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"Hi, Violet! I've been good. Right now I'm helping this kid enter the Pokémon League."

Violet turned her attention to Gary.

"So, do you want a Cascade Badge then?" She held out a water drop shaped badge. "Here you go."

"What? You can't just give that to me. I need to fight you for it."

"Oh, fine, if you want to be that way." Violet made no attempt to hide her disappointment as she pushed off the side of the pool and swam a back-stroke to the other side. She flipped up out of the pool with expert skill.

"How many badges do you have already?" She shouted back to Gary.

"One, about to be two."

"Well, at least this will be over fast." She mumbled to herself as she pulled out a Pokéball from seemingly nowhere "Then this will be a one-on-one battle!"

"Where did that Pokéball come from?"

"That is the most closely guarded secret of swimmers everywhere." Sue answered Gary's question, though it wasn't really an answer.

Violet tossed the Pokéball over the pool and a Seel came out from it. Gary sent out his Squirtle in response. Both Pokémon dove into the water and swam around waiting for their orders.

"Seel!" Violet called out. "Use Headbutt!"

The sea lion Pokémon swam over and rammed into Squirtle headfirst. Squirtle was knocked back into the side of the pool, but was able to push itself off and use it to add more momentum into its own Tackle attack.

This was Gary's first underwater battle, but he felt like he was getting the hang of it. He ordered Squirtle to follow up with another Tackle. Violet had Seel retaliate with its Icy Wind attack, freezing the surface of the water and making it harder for Squirtle to maneuver while Seel was still right at home in the icy water. Squirtle tried to catch up to Seel for another Tackle, but Seel was able to outmaneuver Squirtle and went in for another Headbutt. That proved to be a mistake, however, and as soon as the move hit, Squirtle was able to Tackle the Seel into a patch of ice. Seel was knocked out by the impact, meaning that Gary had won the battle.

Violet walked around the pool and handed Gary the badge she tried to give him earlier.

"Here you go, the Cascade Badge." She then turned to the girls. "Nice cheer."

"Thank you," responded Mal, "it's nice to know _someone_ likes it." She glared at Gary.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, which way are we going?" Carmine looked down at Ash.

Ash looked back and forth between the entrance to Mount Moon's tunnel system and the road leading around the mountain while looking contemplative.

"I think…" The others stared at him, waiting for his answer. "We'll go through the tunnels."

"No…" Misty moaned.

"You don't have to go with us." Brock pointed out to her.

"And let this kid ditch me before he pays me back for my bike? No way."

"Why does everyone keep calling me a kid?" Ash asked. "I'm almost eleven and I have a Pokémon Trainer's License. I am an adult."

"Not really." Carmine argued. "You may have a lot of the privileges of being an adult, but you're still the youngest here and you still tend to act like a child."

"I do not."

"Says the boy who's basically having a tantrum."

"Whatever." Ash said indignantly as he turned and started walking for the tunnel. "I'm going. Anyone who's coming with me should just follow quietly."

* * *

After Seymour had asked Daisy to deliver to deliver the Old Amber to Cinnabar Labs, he had been assigned to find some new fossils at Mount Moon for the Pewter Museum of Science's ancient Pokémon exhibit. He managed to excavate a large number of fossils from various prehistoric Pokémon that were native to the area millions of years ago and was just getting ready to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Seymour turned around to see two men in grey Team Rocket uniforms.

"I'm heading back to the Pewter Museum. Why do want to know? Who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Hun, and my friend here is Attila." Hun spoke rather nonchalantly.

"You weren't planning one taking those fossils with you, were you?" Asked Attila.

"Yes, of course I was."

"We'll I'm afraid that's too bad." Hun almost seemed sorry for Seymour, but it was clearly insincere.

"We'll be taking those off your hands for you." Attila on the other hand, made no such attempt at hiding his pleasure from taunting Seymour.

* * *

Ash felt surprisingly at ease in the tunnels of Mount Moon, and made his way through them without any trouble at first. After some time, a small Pokémon dug out from the side of the tunnel, right in front of Ash.

"That's a Sandshrew. They're pretty common in the area." Brock pointed out.

"I'm going to catch it." Ash turned his hat around on his head and stretched out his arm. "Pikachu! Brick Break!"

Pikachu ran along Ash's outstretched arm, jumped, and swatted the Sandshrew with its tail. Before the Sandshrew had time to react and attack back, Ash threw a Pokéball at it and the Pokémon was caught. Ash picked up the Pokéball as Pikachu leapt back onto his shoulder and held his new Pokémon out to show the others.

"Say hello to the newest member of my team."

"Hello." Carmine said, sarcastically.

* * *

Red and Yellow continued wandering though the tunnels, when they came across Attila and Hun threatening Seymour. Attila had sent out his Skarmory, which was holding the bladed tip of one of its wings up to Seymour's throat.

As if by instinct, Red sent out his Charmander and ordered it to fire an Ember at the Skarmory. The small fireball knocked Skarmory's wing away from Seymour and turned the attention of the two Team Rocket Agents to Red.

"Who dares?" Attila seemed furious at the interruption. "You're going down, kid!" His Skarmory slowly walked out between Attila and Red, then assumed a battle-ready stance.

* * *

Masque set down her radio and stood up from her seat. She had just gotten word that the International Police were in the area. She packed up the secret base they had set up in the tunnels and was about to contact the others when Ash's group wandered in.

"Hi." Misty said. "Can you tell us which way to go to get to Cerulean? We're kind of lost."

"We are not lost! I just took a wrong turn." Ash turned to Masque, and then a puzzled look came over him. Like he was seeing something the others couldn't.

"That 'R' on your uniform," Carmine said bluntly, "you're with Team Rocket."

Ash, Misty and Brock were all taken aback by Carmine's comment, but Masque just seemed to smirk under her half-mask.

"You took a worse turn than you thought." Masque grabbed a strange black Pokéball from around her belt and called out a Vileplume. "Petal Dance."

Vileplume launched a whirlwind of spotted red petals from its head that almost hit Ash's group, but were deflected at the last moment by a white beam of energy that came from the cavern's entrance. Looker, Dragon and 009 came storming into the area with a Dragonite and Croagunk. Vileplume launched another wave of petals, this time around Masque and itself. When the attack cleared, the two were gone.

"What in the Distortion World just happened?" Misty asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Wait a minute." Carmine said. "I know you; you're with the International Police.100kr, wasn't it?"

"I am known as 'Looker' now, but yes. I too remember meeting you before. I am afraid we all have much to discuss."

* * *

Red and Attila were just about to start their battle when a voice came over Hun's radio.

" _This is Agent Masque reporting in to all Team Rocket Agents in the Mount Moon area. Our mission has been blown. I repeat, our mission has been blown. Evacuate the area immediately. I repeat, evacuate the area immediately."_

Attila and Hun both glanced at each other and nodded.

"You got lucky this time, punk." Attila turned back to Red as he recalled his Skarmory. "But we will meet again, and I will destroy you."

The two Team Rocket Agents ran off leaving Red and Yellow with Seymour.

"Thank you so much. I thought for sure they were going to kill me." Seymour bowed to Red and Yellow in thanks. "I don't know how I can ever repay you for this. Here, take a couple of fossils, it's the least I can do."

Red and Yellow took the fossils that Seymour handed to them and the two waved goodbye to him as he headed back to Pewter.

"That was so cool!" Yellow said, as she grabbed on to Red's arm. "Those bad guys were going to hurt him and you were just like 'not today, villains' like a superhero or something!"

"I didn't say anything like that."

"Okay maybe not, but still, that was so cool."

"We're lucky we even managed to get out of that okay. I doubt I would have been able to beat that guy. Even if I could have stood up to him, there was no way I could have beaten both of them."

"I didn't even think of that." Yellow lost her smile for a moment, but then it was back. "We sure are lucky then."

"Let's just get out of here."

* * *

Daisy made her way slowly down the side of Mount Moon, making sure that the egg she was carrying stayed safe. Her walk down the grassy mountain slope was otherwise rather uneventful. Eventually she reached the base of the mountain and found the road leading in to Cerulean City.

"I should have just followed the road to begin with. Although I guess I wouldn't have gotten this egg if I did." Daisy held the egg up in front of her. "They say just seeing a Clefairy is supposed to bring good luck. I wonder what it means when one gives you an egg. I mean, I guess it was just thanks for getting rid of those people trying to take that meteor, but it seems weird to give away your unborn child. Then again, they might not think of it that way. I don't even know that this is a Clefairy egg."

Before Daisy could ponder it further, she reached the Pokémon Center along the outskirts of the city and went inside.

"Welcome to the Cerulean City Pokémon Center. Would you like us to heal your Pokémon."

Daisy put her Pokémon's Pokéballs in the tray on the counter in front of the nurse. The nurse put the tray inside the healing machine and turned to Daisy.

"Would you like something to help you carry that egg? We have special portable incubators; if you want one, then it would help you carry that egg around." She said, then took the tray back from the machine and handed it to Daisy.

"Yes, that would be nice." Daisy placed the Pokéballs back in her bag as she spoke.

The nurse left and came back with a class case with an incubator and placed in on the counter. Daisy carefully placed the egg inside of it and put the incubator in her bag.

"Thank you." Daisy said as she turned to leave. She walked out of the Pokémon Center feeling ready on take on anything. "Cerulean Gym, here I come."


	12. Chapter 12

"As I said at Mount Moon, I am known as Looker. I am an agent in the service of the International Police. Team Rocket has recently been reactivated after five years of dormancy and we are working on figuring out why that is and find a way to take them down again."

Looker, Dragon, 009, Ash, Carmine, Misty and Brock were all sitting around a table back at the Adonis Detective Agency. The building and its interior had been fixed up thanks to the efforts of the International Police officers that had been stationed under Looker.

"I don't actually work for the International Police." Dragon said. "I'm technically just an informant, but I decided to help out more directly. My codename is Dragon."

"Codename?" Misty asked. "But everyone already knows who you are, your Lance."

"Yeah, I'm not really sure why I bothered with the codename. I'm a well known public figure throughout the region and I'm a Dragon Master, so 'Dragon' was kind of a dead giveaway." Lance took off his hat and his bright red hair spiked up dramatically.

"So, what do you know about the revived Team Rocket?" Carmine tried to get the conversation back on subject.

"For the clarity of those who do not know the whole story, I shall start at the beginning." Looker said. "Team Rocket was one of the largest criminal organizations in the world until five years ago when one of their agents decided to give them in. I believe you all know him; he is sitting in this very room. Mr. Carmine Noir."

Ash, Misty and Brock nearly fell out of their chairs in surprise at this revelation.

"You were with Team Rocket?" Ash asked him, baffled. "Wait, does Mom know about that?"

"I would assume so. Your parents were the ones who convinced me to leave them."

Looker cleared his throat to direct everyone's attention back to him.

"As I was saying; Mr. Noir directed us to the son of Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni Rozzo, and my superior at the time, Agent Adonis, made a deal with him. In exchange for the names of everyone in Team Rocket, Giovanni and anyone who followed him in being a part of the deal would have all charges dropped against them. We all thought that would be the end of Team Rocket until a few months ago. It would appear that Giovanni has revived the Team for some reason. Our mission is to find out what reason that is and put a stop to them. If you have any information, any at all, it would be appreciated."

"I stopped a squad from trying to steal a bunch of Pikachu that were in the Viridian Pokémon Center from the storm a few days ago. They had a talking Meowth with them."

"A talking Meowth…" Looker stroked his chin as he took in that information. "That is interesting."

"Wait, what?" Ash looked at Carmine, confused. "When did that happen?"

"That night we stayed at the Pokémon Center here. You were asleep at the time."

"That lady in the mask at Mount Moon." Brock said. "The Pokéballs around her belt were strange. They were black and had a design I've never seen before."

"That's right!" Ash added. "And there was something off about her and her Pokémon. They both seemed like they were covered in a dark cloud or something.

The others all looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" Carmine asked.

"I didn't notice anything like that." Misty commented.

"Covered in a darkness that most people can't see. I feel like I've heard that description somewhere before…" Looker's eyes widened and he banged his fist into the table. "I've got it. I think I know what it was. We'll need to bring in more help for this, and I think I know just who."

* * *

Daisy walked into the Cerulean Gym and waited for a while. The Gym was completely empty. After she waited around the pool for a while she finally got up and was about to leave, but then a blonde woman walked in.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Have you been waiting long?" She asked.

"Yes, quite a while, actually."

"I'm so sorry. I had some stuff I needed to do and I didn't think anyone would come in today."

"Can we have a Gym Battle now, then?"

"Of course. I'll go get ready." The blonde woman walked over to the other side of the Gym.

"I only have one Badge right now!" Daisy called out to her.

"Got it." The woman grabbed a Pokéball from some kind of console and stood at the other end of the pool from Daisy. "And you don't need to yell. We have really good acoustics in here. It helps with our water shows."

"Water shows?"

"Yeah, we have live performances in here. I was actually working on preparations on tonight's show right now."

"That sounds nice."

"If you beat me, I can give you a free ticket with your Badge."

"You're on!"

"This will be a one-on-one match with standard Pokémon League rules. I'm Daisy, by the way, one of the Sensational Sisters and Gym Leader of Cerulean City."

Daisy had to hold back a laugh. "What a coincidence, my name's Daisy, too."

* * *

Red and Yellow finally made their way out of Mount Moon. They stopped to enjoy the feel of the sunshine and fresh air for a while, and then sat down on a patch of soft grass.

"Being in that cave was fun, but I'm glad to be outside again." Yellow said.

"I know what you mean." Red grabbed the two Pokéballs on his belt and called out Charmander and Paras to enjoy the outside as well.

"When'd you get that crab-thing with the mushrooms?"

"I caught him while you were sleeping. He was crawling over my legs."

Yellow shivered. "That must have been creepy."

"A bit creepy, yeah. But I'm glad I have him." Red pet his Paras in the head, between the two mushrooms growing out of its back.

Yellow lay on her back and looked up at the sky. "I'm glad that I get be out here with you. I feel like I didn't really get to be outside much before, and that I didn't like being inside so much."

* * *

Daisy Oak sent out her Bulbasaur to battle against the Gym Leader Daisy's Horsea. Bulbasaur had to stand outside the pool because it couldn't swim, which gave Horsea a large terrain advantage, countering Bulbasaur's type advantage.

Horsea opened up with a Bubble attack, launching a steam of bubbles at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur shrugged off the attack and countered by sending out a wave of Sleep Powder over the pool which, Horsea had to swim under the water to avoid. Bulbasaur took this opening to send out its vines into the water and hitting Horsea with a Vine Whip while it was distracted by the Sleep Powder. Horsea then swam up the surface again and let out a Smokescreen.

Not being able to see Horsea through the smoke, Bulbasaur sent out another blast of Sleep Powder over the pool as well as Poison Powder, making it so that Horsea could no longer safely surface through the water.

"I'm so glad we have someone to clean this stuff out of the water for us." The Gym Leader said. "Battles like this would be a nightmare if we didn't."

Horsea didn't notice the powder because of the smoke and tried to hit Bulbasaur with another Bubble, but inhaled some of the Sleep Powder when it poked its head above the water and instantly fell asleep. Bulbasaur used Vine Whip again and won the battle.

Daisy the Gym Leader walked back to Daisy Oak and handed her a Gym Badge.

"Here you go; one Cascade Badge. You earned it." She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. "And, as promised, a ticket to tonight's water show."

* * *

A gust of hot desert air blew in through an open window in a small jailhouse. One of the prisoners lay relaxed on his bed, while the other four seemed uneasy about his presence. One of the two men in the cell next to him finally stood up and walked up to the bars dividing their cells.

"What are you in here for?" He asked the man. "Aren't you supposed to be a hero or something?"

The man let out a small chuckle as he sat up on his bed. "I don't think anyone's ever called me a hero before. Theft, arson, kidnapping; I've done plenty to earn a place in here."

"But you're the one who got us in here, man. And you're supposed to have saved the entire world or something, right?"

"I wouldn't go that far. I may have done a lot of good recently, but I'm no hero."

"No one cares!" Yelled one of the women in the third jail cell. "Just shut up already!"

They all went back to just sitting in silence for a while. That silence was broken however, when the chief of police entered the jailhouse. He walked up to the cell that the lone man was in and pulled out his keys to unlock it.

"You have a visitor." He said.


	13. Chapter 13

Looker sat at one end of a small table. 009 leaned against the wall behind him. Across from the detective sat a gray-haired young man with heavily tanned skin and strikingly golden eyes.

"Weston Jaeger." Looker addressed the man.

"Most people call me Wes."

"It sounds like you've done a lot of bad things in your life."

"What's it to you?" Wes asked, a little more defensive than he meant.

"You've also done a lot of good. I have heard that you were responsible for the defeat of Team Cipher before the International Police even knew what was going on."

"So what? I was just in the right place at the right time."

"I have also heard that you have experience fighting their 'Shadow Pokémon'."

Wes let a grin slide smoothly across his face that did not extend past his mouth. "That's right. I captured every Shadow Pokémon they made and purified each and every one to their original state."

"Good. We have need of your experience."

Wes' grin faded and he went on the defensive again. "And what would you need that for? There are no more Shadow Pokémon left. I made sure of that, personally."

"That may be, but it would seem that Team Cipher were not the only ones who knew how to make them."

"That's impossible." Wes sat upright, his attention fully caught up in the conversation now.

"Apparently not. There has been at least one sighting of a Shadow Pokémon in the Kanto region under the ownership of Team Rocket. We do not know if they managed to find the process of making them on their own or if Team Cipher had some involvement with Team Rocket, but somehow they have Shadow Pokémon. And it is doubtful that they only have one."

Wes paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, then spoke. "I'll help you. But I can't sense Shadow Pokémon on my own. I had a partner when fighting Team Cipher. You'll need her, too."

Looker smiled as he stood up. "We are already aware. She was the one who suggested we get you. Gather your things and we'll go."

"Now, wait just a moment." Interrupted the police chief, Chief Sherles. "As much as I'd like to see Wes go free because of all the good he's done for this town, he's still a convicted criminal. We can't just let criminals free whenever it suits us, he has to do his time in here."

"That is a hindrance." Looker nodded. "Or rather, it would be. I have been fully authorized to formally drop all charges against Wes for his past wrongdoings if he cooperates."

"I guess that's that then." Said Wes as he stood up. "Sounds like a win-win to me."

* * *

Red and Yellow walked into the Cerulean Gym and were greeted by one of its Gym Leaders.

"Welcome to the Cerulean Gym. I'm Lily." Said the pink haired girl, who held out a small teardrop shaped badge. "Take this complementary Cascade Badge."

"Complementary?" Red asked. "I thought I needed to fight you for it."

Lily's shoulders drooped and she put the badge back into the pocket of her dress. "Why does no one ever just take the badge?" She moaned to herself as she turned and walked back to the other side of the pool.

"Weird…" Said Yellow.

"I'm guessing you only have, like, maybe two badges?" Lily asked Red.

"Just one." Was his response.

"Alright." Lily seemed rather bored. "One-on-one then. Show me your best, or whatever."

Lily tossed a Pokéball out over the pool and a Goldeen came out of it and dove into the water. Red called out his Paras, which stood along the edge of the pool.

"I didn't take the possibility of having a pool as an arena." Red muttered to himself. "All of the strategies I planned on the way here relied on having equal footing with the opponent.

"I'm sure you'll figure out something." Yellow reassured him.

Paras stared blankly at the pool while Goldeen swam around, waiting to see what it would do. After a while, Lily grew impatient and ordered her Pokémon to use Peck. The fish Pokémon leapt out of the water and descended so that its horn would hit Paras.

"Paras!" Red finally came up with a plan. "Hit it with Scratch and knock it away from the pool!"

The bug Pokémon swung one of its large front legs as the Goldeen was about to reach it and knocked the Goldeen away. The fish Pokémon was only able to flop around uselessly on land, making it an easy target for Paras to hit repeatedly until Goldeen fainted.

"Oh, joy." Lily said sarcastically as she walked back to Red. "Just take the stupid badge already." She pulled the badge out of her pocket. A couple small slips of paper slipped out with it. "I forgot I had these. You might as well take them; they're tickets for tonight's water show."

"Water show?" Yellow asked. "I don't know what that is, but it sounds great."

* * *

On the road between Cerulean City and Saffron City, Gary and his cheerleaders had just found their way blocked by a large fallen tree. They got out of their car to examine the tree.

"I could clear the way with me Pokémon." Kat suggested to Gary, who took a moment to answer.

"Nah, I say we turn back. We passed a turn off to Celadon City earlier. I think we should go back that way."

"Well, I'm going to clear the path anyway, for people coming by this way later. I'll meet back up with you at the Pokémon Center." Kat said as the others got back in the car.

Mal made a U-turn and drove off with the others. Kat turned back to the tree and pulled out a couple of Pokéballs from around her belt.

"Alright! Go, Charizard and Nidoqueen. Let's get this tree off the road, shall we?"

The two large Pokémon each grabbed hold of the large, fallen tree and lifted it up off to the side of the road.

"Well, that was fast. You know, I don't think we've had a proper fight since the Pokémon League last year. We should fix that some time." Kat's Pokémon both nodded in agreement. "I feel like Gary's going too quickly with his journey. I think I was only just getting to Pewter at this point on my journey. I hadn't even caught you yet, Nidoqueen." She rubbed her hand against the blue Pokémon's head. "I suppose we should probably be going now."

* * *

"You are probably wondering why I have called you all to this meeting." Giovanni said to the room full of Team Rocket Agents. "This is the first time we have gathered all of our high ranking members at once since our organization's revival. The reason is simple. We have enemies. The International Police have sent a team to take us down and even the local trainers are starting to fight against us. And they're doing a bit too well against us for my tastes. That is why I have decided to put all of you through an intense training regimen. To start with, I have hired one of the world's foremost Pokémon Hunters to work for us."

Giovanni gestured to an open doorway on one side of the room. A gray-haired woman walked in and sat at one of the two empty chairs around the crowded table.

"This is Hunter J. After this meeting you will all report in to her and she will make sure you are all equipped with full teams. After that, you are to report to the head of Project Dark, the Iron-Masked Marauder, who will augment your Pokémon into Dark Pokémon, giving you an edge over any who would dare oppose us." Giovanni now gestured to the doorway on the other side of the room where a large man wearing an iron mask walked in and sat in the other empty chair.

"Once you are finished with that, each squadron will report to one of our Executives. They will train you to become better fighters. Mallory will inform you of which executive you should report under. Are there any questions?" Giovanni looked around the room. No one raised any questions, so he moved on. "That will be all. This meeting is now adjourned."


	14. Chapter 14

"Too bad we couldn't have gotten a lift back to Cerulean." Misty said.

"Yeah." Brock agreed. "Looker and 009 teleported away with an Alazakam and Lance flew off to who-knows-where without even asking if we wanted a lift."

"You know," Carmine pointed out, "we don't have to go straight back to Cerulean. We could take Diglett's Cave to Vermilion instead." Carmine looked down to Ash and then interrupted right when Ash was about to speak. "Let me guess, you're going to wait until morning to make a decision."

"I was not!" Ash said indignantly. "We'll go to Vermillion. Although I do want to stay here for the night, it's starting to get dark."

"Do we have to go to a cave?" Misty sighed. "I don't want to be underground again. Besides, I need to get home soon."

"Actually, if we go through Diglett's Cave to Vermillion, then take the Underground Path to Cerulean, it should take about the same amount of time as going through Pewter and Mt. Moon." Brock pointed out.

"Fine."

"Are you going to make us sleep in the Pokémon Center again, or can we actually stay in the Pallet House this time?" Carmine asked Ash.

"Well… this is just kind of an unexpected detour, rather than a real part of my journey, so I guess we can go to the Pallet House this once."

"The Pallet House?" Misty asked. "You struck me as more of the kind to stay at cheap motels or something."

Ash and Carmine both glared at Misty.

"You _do_ know who you're talking to, right?" Carmine asked.

Misty looked at them a bit confused.

"My mom owns the whole chain. It's the family business." Ash explained.

Misty's jaw dropped and Brock looked rather surprised as well.

"I thought I'd heard the name 'Ketchum' before." Brock said. "I guess that was it. I'm not really into business stuff, though. Actually, I feel like it was somewhere else. I think it was on the news or something."

"That does sound familiar, actually." Misty added.

"You're probably thinking of when Graham disappeared." Carmine said. Both he and Ash looked down at the ground mournfully.

"I miss Dad." Ash said.

"What happened?" Misty asked, genuinely concerned.

"We don't know for sure." Explained Carmine. "He went missing around four years ago. There were some strange reportings near the Cerulean Cave. Graham went to check them out, but never returned. No one's seen or heard from him since then."

"I think I remember that. They said there were sightings of a strange, powerful Pokémon in the area." Said Misty. "It apparently left after a while, though."

"Can we please talk about something else?" Ash looked about ready to cry from the memories of his missing father.

"Sure kid." Carmine tried to comfort him, a bit awkwardly. "Let's go check in at the Pallet House. It's been a long day.

* * *

Red and Yellow found their seats for the Water Show. They were in the front row of the bleachers on the western side of the Gym. As they sat down, Red heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Hey, Red! Red, is that you?" Daisy walked up to where they were sitting. "How have you been?"

Red stood up to greet his old friend.

"Hey, Daisy. What were the odds of meeting up here? How have you been?"

"I've been having a little trouble traveling on my own, but I have managed to get two badges already. How about you?"

"I have two badges, too. If you're having trouble alone, you're welcome to come with us."

"Us?" Daisy was caught off-guard by that.

Yellow got up and shook Daisy's hand.

"Hello! My name's Yellow! Probably, maybe, who really knows?"

"It's a long story." Red said in response to the confused look on Daisy's face.

Before they could continue their conversation, the lights dimmed, marking that the show was about to begin, so they sat back down in silence. The show was called "The Mermaid and the Pirate" an odd mix-up of Romeo and Juliet with The Little Mermaid. Lily played Romeo as a member of a band of pirates that wanted more from life, while Violet played Juliet as a young mermaid who wants to explore the human world and Daisy cycled through the other major characters while their Pokémon served as the extras. Despite this odd premise, they were able to put on quite a show that left the audience in awe.

* * *

Jessie, James and Meowth stood in a room with the other squads that had been assigned under Executive Administrator Archer. The other squads were Attila and Hun, Thunder Squad, who the trio had worked with at Mt. Moon; Thief Squad, a pair of sisters named Annie and Oakley; and Outlaw Squad, Butch and Cassidy, who have been J Squad's rivals ever since they joined Team Rocket.

"Well look what the cat dragged in…" Cassidy said when she saw the trio. "I thought you three would have been kicked out by now, but I guess they'll just let anyone here."

"Oh, yeah?" Jessie responded. "I guess they do if you two are here."

The two women walked up to each other and looked like they were about to attack each other, but were stopped by a pair of hands resting on their shoulders.

"Enough." Attila said. "As much as I like a good fight, we're all working together. And we can't work together if we're at each other's throats."

"Well put," came the cool voice of the man who just walked into the room, "you appear to be smarter than you look. Good"

Executive Archer was one of the highest ranking members of Team Rocket, second only to Giovanni himself, and he looked the part. Archer was a suave man, impeccably dressed with short, teal hair and he had an heir about him that allowed him to take charge of any situation he was in without any fuss. Even Attila, who would normally object to a backhanded compliment like the one Archer just gave, stood speechless in the man's presence.

"I'm going to assume you all at least know each other's names, you all know who I am of course, and I really don't care who you are. So, we're going to skip the introductions and pleasantries and go straight to why we're here. You may be some of the best Team Rocket has to offer in your respective skillsets, whatever they may be, but those are not the only skills that will be necessary as we reach our goals and our enemies try to stop us. Thus, it is my job to make sure that you have the power to stop anyone who dares get in our way. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

* * *

The Iron-Masked Marauder sat in a chair, fiddling with the latest prototype for his Dark Ball. He was so caught up in his work that he almost didn't notice someone walk in to his lab.

"I thought I recognized you." Said Hunter J. "You used to work for Team Cipher didn't you?"

The Marauder didn't bother looking up. "So did you. So what?"

"This Project Dark I keep hearing about; it's the Shadow Pokémon project isn't it. And those special Pokéballs, they're modified from Team Snagem's snag machines."

"You're close." He admitted. "I left Team Cipher shortly before they were defeated and rounded up by the IP. I ended up here and Giovanni offered me a position here in Team Rocket. We have resources here that Cipher never even imagined. Project Dark is a modified version of the Shadow Pokémon Project, but they're not quite the same."

The Iron-Masked Marauder stood up and smiled at Hunter J, gesturing for her to follow him further into the lab. She did so and he led her to a strange, glowing orange crystal with wires coming out of it, connected to the various machines and computers in the room.

"This is the Dark Synergy Crystal." Marauder explained. "We found it in the far-off Ferrum region. I t has properties similar to Shadow Pokémon, and allows us to make even better versions of them. This new kind of Shadow Pokémon, or Dark Pokémon as we call them here, Are just as powerful as the old ones, but they remain much more under control. We don't have to worry about them attacking their own trainers anymore. In addition, this method seems to be more potent. We even have a successful human prototype."

"That would by the girl with the mask." Hunter J's comment was more a statement than a question.

"Yes. How did you figure that out so quickly?"

"This thing's more than just for show." Hunter J pointed to the visor she was wearing. "It allows me to see aura. I stole it from a lab back in Orre that's working on fighting another potential Shadow Pokémon outbreak. I also managed to get this Snag Machine from them." She motioned to the silver gauntlet on her left arm.

"I was wondering about that."

"It looks like Team Cipher's legacy has served us both well, huh John?"

"I'm the Iron-Masked Marauder now."

"That's kind of a mouthful. I'm just going to keep calling you John."

"Only if I can call you Jael."


	15. Chapter 15

A lone Charmander held his tail under his chin in the vain hope that would shield its flame from the rain. Three days had passed since his trainer had left Charmander on that rock. Three long days of waiting for his trainer to return.

"Damian will come back for me." Charmander thought to himself. "He said he would, and I believe in him."

And so, Charmander continued to wait for his missing trainer as the rain finally began to slow to a stop. Charmander continued dwelling in his thought when he realized something.

"What if something happened to Damian? What if the reason he hasn't come back is that he can't?"

Charmander looked down the path the way Damian had gone.

"That must be it! Damian is hurt and alone! I need to rescue him!"

Charmander breathed a small, pathetic flame onto its tail to keep it from going out and slid down the rock Damian had placed him on. Three days of no food and in a constant near-death state had left Charmander weak and he was barely able to walk down the path, put his heart and soul into making it. He needed to save his trainer and nothing would stop him, or so he thought.

As Charmander continued stumbling forward, his feet gave out under him and he tumbled down a slope along the side of the path.

* * *

The next morning after Daisy met up with Red and Yellow, Daisy went on her way south to Vermillion City. She had decided not to take Red up on his offer of traveling with them. She was going to give traveling alone another chance; hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with anything like what happened at Mt. Moon again.

As she made her way along the road, she eventually stumbled upon a group of young boys only a few years younger than her. Three of the boys appeared to be beating up the fourth, so Daisy ran up to stop them. The moment the boys noticed Daisy coming up to them they high-tailed it away and towards a large building in the distance.

"What was that about?" Daisy asked as she helped the remaining boy get back onto his feet.

"Nothing." He said quietly. "They're just bullies."

"What is that building over there, anyway?"

The boy looked up at Daisy with a look of confusion. "That's Pokémon Tech, duh. How do you not know that?"

"Why would I know that?" Daisy countered.

The boy just walked back to the school without paying any more attention to Daisy.

"Well that was rude." Daisy muttered to herself. "Well, might as well check it out."

* * *

Red and Yellow made their way north from Cerulean. This led them to Route 24, best known as the home of Nugget Bridge. They walked onto the famous bridge and were immediately confronted by a trainer.

"Stop! People call this place the Nugget Bridge. If you can beat all five trainers here, you can win a fabulous prize! Do you have what it takes?"

Red looked down at Yellow and then back up to the trainer.

"I might as well give it a try. Bring it on."

Red and the trainer each pulled out a Pokéball and sent out a Pokémon. Red sent out his Charmander while the trainer sent out a Kukuna. Charmander used Ember and the Kakuna fainted almost instantly.

"Well, that was unexpected." Said the trainer. "Maybe you have what it takes after all. You may proceed."

Red continued along the bridge with Yellow following him, but was stopped again only a few steps later.

"I'm the second trainer! Now it's serious!" The trainer said as she sent out a Pidgey.

Red's Charmander once again beat the opposing Pokémon in only a single move. The process repeated until Red defeated the fifth trainer. Red and Yellow finally reached the other side of the bridge when a man walked up to them.

"Congratulations! You've beaten all five of our elite trainers! You've just earned a fabulous prize."

"It wasn't exactly difficult." Red said as he took the prize, a golden nugget, from the man. "You should probably get some stronger trainers for this."

"By the way," the man continued, "how would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"What?" Red asked. Both he and Yellow just stared at the man.

"We're a group of professional criminals specializing in Pokémon. Want to join?"

"We know what Team Rocket is. We've dealt with your people back at Mt. Moon."

"I'm telling you to join."

"No!"

"Alright, I see you're going to need convincing!" The man pulled out a Pokéball and called out his Ekans.

The snake Pokémon leapt towards Charmander and used Bite on Red's Pokémon, followed by Wrap. Charmander responded by using Metal Claw to force the Ekans off of him. Charmander then shot out an Ember while the Ekans countered by spitting a Poison Sting. The two moves collided in mid-air and Charmander took the opportunity to charge and slam Ekans into the ground with another Metal Claw, causing the Ekans to faint.

Red's Charmander began to glow white and grew into his evolved form: Charmeleon.

"Alright then." The Team Rocket recruiter said as he recalled his fainted Pokémon. "Smoke escape!" He flung a small smoke bomb onto the ground. When the smoke cleared he was gone.

"That was a neat trick." Yellow said. "And your Pokémon evolved!"

"I can't say I'm entirely sure what just happened." Red commented. "But so far this is shaping up to be a good day."

* * *

Gary walked into the Celadon City Gym. The Gym was arranged as a garden maze, which Gary had to navigate his way around to reach the Gym Leader.

"I challenge you to a battle!" He shouted when he finally reached her.

The Gym Leader was a young woman with black hair and wearing a traditionally designed kimono. She was taking a nap on a large cushion designed to look like a Vileplume's flower. She woke up from Gary's shouting and stood up slowly while rubbing her eyes.

"Huh, what was that?" She said in-between large yawns.

"I said, I challenge you to a battle!" Gary repeated himself, rather annoyed.

"Right, of course. Sorry about that, I sat down for a moment and I guess I must have fallen asleep."

"Two." Gary said proudly.

"Only two?" She reached under her cushion and pulled out a Pokéball. "I guess this will only be one on one then. I'm Erika, Gym Leader of Celadon City and Grass-type specialist." She tossed the Pokéball and a Tangela came out from it.

Gary sent out his own, recently evolved, Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto opened with a Gust attack, knocking Tangela back. Tangela then used Ingrain, sending some of its vines into the ground where it absorbed nutrients from the soil, healing itself. Pidgeotto flapped its wings hard to create a Whirlwind that sent Tangela flying up into the air so that it couldn't heal itself more, then rammed into it with a couple Quick Attacks. Tangela fainted by the time it crashed back down to the ground.

"Very good." Erika said, clapping lightly. "In honor of your victory, I bestow unto you this Rainbow Badge." She held out the badge to Gary who grabbed it from her eagerly.

* * *

Charmander awoke feeling much better than he had in days. It felt like he had his strength fully restored. He opened his eyes to see that he has lying on a grass mat in some kind of cottage. His tail flame was resting on a flat stone so that it wouldn't catch anything on fire and was burning brighter than he had ever seen it.

"It's good to see that you're awake." Said a woman sitting in a chair on the far end of the cottage. "My name's Melanie and this is the Hidden Village. I take care of injured Pokémon here."

Charmander nodded to the woman as a sign of thanks. The woman smiled and pointed to a Pokémon sitting next to her.

"This Bulbasaur here is the one who found you and brought you here. If you should be thanking anyone, it should be him."

"Thank you." Charmander said to the Bulbasaur. Pokémon may not be able to communicate directly with humans, but most species could understand each other's languages.

"It was nothing." The Bulbasaur responded. "I was just doing my job."


	16. Chapter 16

The area just outside the eastern entrance to Diglett's Cave was very calm. The wind blowing gently through the grass and trees was the only movement to be seen as all the wild Pokémon were either away hunting or taking an afternoon nap. This peace was disturbed by a sudden mound of dirt growing by the cave's entrance.

A Sandshrew pulled its head out through the dirt mound as it finally reached the surface. As it crawled onto the ground, it gestured back down the tunnel it dug out of. The surrounding earth began to shake as the mighty figure of an Onix burst forth from the ground. Behind the Onix, four humans climbed up from the newly formed tunnel.

"We're never going into another cave ever again!" Misty shouted at Ash.

"How was I supposed to know the cave would collapse like that?" Ash asked defensively.

"No one could have predicted there would be a pocket of magma so close to a widely used tunnel like that." Brock pointed out.

"Let's just agree never to talk about what happened down there ever again." Said Carmine. "I really don't want to have to relive any of that."

"Which way is it to Vermillion?" Ash asked.

Brock looked at his watch, then up at the sky. "It should be that way." He said as he pointed west.

"Then let's go before anything else happens."

* * *

Daisy walked up to the front gate of Pokémon Tech and found that it was locked.

"I guess I came here for nothing. Ah well, this was still on the way to Saffron, so it wasn't a complete loss."

She turned to walk away when the gate suddenly opened. A girl walked out to her.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She asked.

"My name's Daisy. I came here to see what this place was."

"Well then, welcome to Pokémon Tech, the most prestigious school in all of Kanto." A smug smile crept across the girl's face. "Or at least that's what it's supposed to be anyway."

"What?" Daisy asked hesitantly.

They say that graduating from here can put you straight into the Pokémon League without needing to earn any badges, but that's just a load of Tauros! Not only is that not true, but Pokémon Tech graduates have a statistically lower number of Pokémon League entrances than any other school in the region. That's why I've just appealed to get my Pokémon License early." She held out her license for Daisy to see. "You're a trainer, right?'

"Yeah…"

"Then I, Giselle, challenge you to my first battle as an official Pokémon Trainer!"

* * *

Wes walked into an empty room in the Adonis Detective Agency were a girl his age was meditating in the corner.

"Well, look who we have here. They'll just let anyone in here won't they?" He said.

The girl opened her eyes and, seeing who it was, stood up and walked over to him.

"And what are you doing here?" She asked in a disdainful tone of voice.

"I'm supposed to help save the world again, or something. I've heard you're the reason I'm here." Wes responded .

The two leered at each other for a moment before breaking into laughter.

"It's good to see you again, Rui." Wes said. "What's new with you?"

"After we split up, I went back to stay with my grandparents. Then I went to train my powers. I'm a full-fledged Aura Apprentice now!"

"I'm just going to pretend I know what that means."

"I also have my own Pokémon now, so I don't need you to protect me anymore."

"I don't recall needing to protect you before." Wes said as Rui pulled out a couple of Pokéballs from around her belt. She called out her Pokémon, a small yellow rodent and a bipedal blue dog

"Meet Pichu and Riolu. My grandpa gave me Pichu and I received Riolu as part of my training."

"Well, you've certainly done a lot more this past year than I have. All I did was become the official strongest trainer in Orre, catch the guardian of the region and get put in jail because I felt like it."

"What?" Rui asked, puzzled.

"After you left, I challenged Mount Battle and won, becoming officially recognized as the strongest trainer in Orre. Then, not too long ago, I let myself get captured and put in jail for all the various crimes I committed over the course of my life before we met. Just because I felt like it."

"What about the guardian?"

"I'll save that for later. I want to keep you in suspense."

"Jerk."

* * *

Daisy's Bulbasaur and Giselle's Cubone stared each other down in preparation for orders from their trainers. Bulbasaur held its vines out in a defensive position while Cubone stood confidently, resting its hands over the top of its Bone Club. After a moment of tension, both girls shouted orders to their Pokémon, who both reacted instantly.

Bulbasaur launched a Leech Seed from its bulb which Cubone knocked away in midair as it charged straight for the Seed Pokémon. Cubone's Bone Club fell hard over Bulbasaur's head, but Bulbasaur was able to counter with another Leech Seed, this time hitting Cubone strait in the neck. Small vines sprouted around the Ground-type Pokémon, slowing its reflexes and draining its health.

Cubone quickly turned around and slapped Bulbasaur with a Tail Whip, lowering its speed. Bulbasaur then grabbed Cubone by its arms with his vines. Cubone tried to wrestle free from the grass-type's grip, but was unable to get loose before Bulbasaur sprayed Sleep Powder into Cubone's face.

Cubone slowly nodded off as Bulbasaur released his grip to attack with Vine Whip repeatedly. At this point it was clear who won the battle.

"That wasn't the outcome I predicted." Giselle said as she called her Cubone back to its Pokéball. "Still, you've earned my respect. One day we will fight again. When that day comes you won't be so lucky."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Daisy said with a smile.

Giselle returned her smile with a glare and gave her parting words as she began to walk off. "I will become the next Pokémon Champion, just you wait."

* * *

"Yellow?" Cried out a panic stricken Red. The girl had wandered off while Red wasn't paying attention. "Yellow! Where are you?"

"I'm over here!"

Red ran over to where her voice had come from and found her standing behind a tree.

"What happened? Why did you run off like that?"

"Well," the amnesiac girl began, "I was trying to juggle a Pokéball that fell out of your pack this morning, when I may have accidentally tossed it away. I went after it to get it back."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to bother you. I thought I'd find it quickly and catch up to you without you noticing I was even gone. But then…" She trailed off.

"Then what?"

Yellow held up the yellow Pokémon she was clutching between her arms, which Red hadn't even noticed.

"I caught something!"

"That's an Abra." Red said, more to himself than to Yellow. "How did you catch an Abra? Those things are almost impossible to catch."

"Abra, huh? Then say hello to Abraham the Abra!"

"You're just constantly full of surprises, kid. I can't tell if that's good or bad yet."

* * *

"It sounds more like he abandoned you." Bulbasaur said after Charmander explained his current situation.

"What? No! Damian didn't abandon me. I know he didn't. He's hurt and alone and I need to find him and rescue him!"

"Fine." Bulbasaur made a motion that resembled a shrug. "But it's dangerous to go alone. I'm coming with you if you insist on this foolish notion."

Charmander was caught off-guard by this offer. "Are you sure? It looks like you're needed here."

"Melanie does all of the real work. I just watched over the weaker Pokémon here to make sure they stayed safe. But I've trained them. They can stand up to any threat that comes this way and pass on my training to the next generation. My job here is done, it was getting time for me to leave, anyway."

"Wow." Charmander didn't know what else to say.

"I'll miss this place." Bulbasaur continued. "But I will return one day."


	17. Chapter 17

"Here we are at last." Brock said to his traveling companions as the city skyline came into view. "Vermillion City; the Port of Exquisite Sunsets."

"Finally!" Misty lifted her arms high into the air. "Civilization!"

The group continued walking towards the city, Ash training a bit behind, taking his time. Shortly after they entered the city limits, Ash was pulled aside by a strange old man in a suit, standing at about three and a half feet tall and with a pure white beard and mustache that covered most of his face.

"Young man." Said the man as he pulled Ash down by the arm so that met at his eye level. "What a fine Pikachu you have there."

"Thanks, I guess." Said Ash, hesitantly, not sure what else to say.

"Yes, this Pikachu is simply remarkable. You're in!"

"In what?"

"Why, the Pokémon Fan Club, of course."

* * *

The Celadon Game Corner was a place filled with sights, sounds and smells. The golden floors reflected light back up on the hordes of gamblers pulling slot machines. It only took one quick look around the place for Gary to decide that coming here was a mistake. Unfortunately for him, his cheerleaders stormed in behind him and pushed him further into the Game Corner.

Gary wandered around the establishment for a while trying to recompose himself. When Gary finally regained his composure, he found himself at the back corner of the building with a lone man in black who appeared to be guarding a poster hanging on the wall behind him.

"Can I help you?" The man growled out.

"No." Gary answered, trying to hide his discomfort with the current situation.

"Then scram, kid. I'm busy." The man said, still just standing in front of the poster with his arms folded.

"But you're not doing anything." Gary pointed out.

"Just because you can't tell what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not doing it. Now beat it." The man looked like he was about to start getting violent, so Gary turned around and walked back the way he thought he had come from.

"Sheesh." Gary said to himself. "What's that guy's problem?"

* * *

"So what now, Ash?" Carmine asked as he, Brock and Misty reached the Pokémon Center. "Ash?"

The three looked around and realized their 'leader' wasn't with them.

"Where could he have wandered off too?" Misty wondered aloud.

"He was definitely just behind us when we first entered the city." Brock commented.

Carmine slowly raised the palm of his right hand up to his forehead. "Oh, Arceus!" He swore under his breath. "Delia's going to kill me for this."

* * *

"I'm afraid this way is closed, miss." The woman guarding the northern entrance to Saffron City told Daisy.

"The city is closed? How does that happen?" Daisy asked.

"I don't know what's going on. I just know I'm not allowed to let anyone through here. If you want, you can take the Underground Path to Viridian City. Otherwise you'll have to head back to either Cerulean of Celadon."

"Fine." Daisy mumbled as she turned to leave. She managed to find the entrance to the Underground Path and headed inside.

In contrast to the tunnels through Mt. Moon, the Underground Path was more like being in a building than a cave. The path was nearly deserted as Daisy made her way through it. After hours of walking, Daisy was surprised to find a doorway leading into what looked like a restaurant.

Daisy walked in and was greeted by a young woman.

"What is this place?" Daisy asked the woman.

"This is the Underground Burger." The woman answered. "It's a rest stop halfway between the two entrances to the Underground Path between Routes 5 and 6."

"I had no idea this place was here."

"Yeah, we get that a lot. People mostly just travel through Saffron."

"The city is closed or something right now. The guard at the entrance isn't letting anyone through right now."

"Huh." The woman looked surprised. "That's unusual. Well, it should be good for business at least."

* * *

Carmine chased after his Sneasel, who was tracking down Ash by scent. Sneasel led him to a clean, well-kept building with an olive green roof that contrasted with the orange roofs of the buildings around it. Carmine opened the front door, which was unlocked, and was surprised by what he found inside.

"What in the name of Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire is going on?" He exclaimed.

Ash has sitting on a couch with the old man from earlier, drinking tea. A group of Pokémon enthusiasts was gathered around them, apparently listening in on some sort of conversation between the two.

"Oh, hey, Carmine." Ash said when he looked over and saw him.

"So you're Carmine?" The old man got up and walked over to greet him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young Ash here has told us so much about you."

"And who would you be?" Carmine asked interrogatively.

"Why, I'm the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman, of course." The old man answered Carmine's question. "Ash, as our newest member, has been telling us the story of your adventures so far."

"Is that so?" Carmine's tone indicated that he wasn't really interested, but the chairman didn't seem to notice.

"Why yes. It's nice to hear the stories of a young trainer just starting out. It reminds me of the good old days."

Carmine turned to a man who was staring at him. "What are looking at?"

The man gave a startled jump. "N-nothing. You just remind me of a kid I've seen hanging around here lately."

"Why, yes!" The chairman said. "I know who you're talking about. He does look like that kid.

"Look," Carmine tried to stop the conversation, "I don't really care. I'm just here to bring Ash back to the Pokémon Center, where the others are waiting."

* * *

Charmander and Bulbasaur travelled along a deserted pathway leading to Cerulean City in hopes of finding any clues to Damian's whereabouts. As they walked, the ground beneath them suddenly caved in and they fell hard into a deep pit.

"Oh no!" Charmander yelled in worry. "What now?"

"Get a hold of yourself." Bulbasaur tried to calm down his panicked companion. "I can easily get us out of here using my Vine Whip."

"Oh, okay." Charmander wiped his forehead with the back of his paw in relief. "I thought we were stuck down here."

"There is one thing that bothers me, though." Bulbasaur said, looking around.

"What's that?" Charmander asked.

Bulbasaur gestured to the walls of dirt around them. "This hole doesn't appear to have formed naturally. It looks more like it's been dug out by hand."

"Very observant." Came a loud, booming voice from up above. Both Pokémon looked up to see a group of blue Pokémon, all wearing sunglasses, looking down at the two.

"The Squirtle Squad." Bulbasaur growled.

"I see our reputation precedes us." Said the Squirtle who spoke earlier, who was wearing pointed sunglasses, as opposed to the round ones the others were wearing.

"Who are the Squirtle Squad?" Charmander asked Bulbasaur.

"They're nothing more than a bunch of bandits that ambush unsuspecting travelers and rob them of everything they have."

"Nothing more than bandits?" Asked the Squirtle in a false offended tone. "We are merely a ragtag group of misfits that can only get by through the…" he paused, searching for the right word to use, " _generosity_ of others."

The other Squirtle laughed at their leader's apparent joke.

"So then," he continued, "How generous will you be to us?"

"Why don't you come down here and find out for yourself? Or are you afraid?" Bulbasaur said in a defiant tone, then launched a Razor Leaf at the Squirtle. Squirtle tried to dodge the attack, but the leaf's sharp edge managed to graze his cheek.

"Fine then!" The Squirtle leader said, as he jumped down into the pit. "But you will regret this. When people speak of the Squirtle Squad's leader, they do so not of a weak Pokémon who cowers before those who oppose him. No, they speak of a mighty Squirtle who crushes his competition and puts all before him in their place. And I am that Squirtle!"


	18. Chapter 18

"What's that thing?" Yellow asked Red while pointing to a large tower coming into view as the two walked along Route 25.

"I think that's a lighthouse." Red answered the girl. "Although I've never seen one in person, so I don't know for sure."

"I feel like I've seen one before." Yellow paused for a moment. "I'm not sure if it was that one or not."

"Well, let's go get a better look and see if you can remember anything about that!" Red said as he started to quicken his pace. "Come on!"

Red and Yellow ran the rest of the way to the lighthouse. When they reached its base the two were panting from exhaustion.

"Okay," Red said between deep breaths, "That was farther away than I thought it was. Let's stop for a moment to catch our breath."

"I'm way ahead of you." Yellow said as she fell down to lie on the soft grass.

"It looks like there's a sign on the door." Red commented. "It says: 'Closed for renovations. Please see the owner at Sea Cottage for any questions'."

"Let's go check it out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not. I want to wait for a moment though. My legs are sore from running."

* * *

Bulbasaur and Squirtle faced each other with a fiery intensity. Charmander backed up to the wall so that he wouldn't get caught in the battle that was about to begin. The two sized each other up for a moment and then both sprang into action at the same time.

Bulbasaur and Squirtle both opened the fight with tackle, ramming into each other at full force. They both pushed against the other trying to knock each other down. Then they both jumped back and let out a projectile attack. Squirtle's Bubble and Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf collided in midair, with Razor Leaf slicing though the Bubble and knocking Squirtle back.

Squirtle Withdrew into his shell and fired a Water Gun towards the side of the hole, launching himself towards his opponent. He slammed into Bulbasaur, who was barely able to brace for the impact. Bulbasaur then countered by releasing a wave of Poison Powder, forcing Squirtle to retreat.

"You're stronger than I expected." Squirtle said.

"I can say the same about you." Replied Bulbasaur.

Both Pokémon were beginning to show signs of fatigue at this point, but neither was willing to give up yet. Bulbasaur used Vine Whip on Squirtle, causing him to stumble back and fall over onto his shell. Squirtle reacted by spinning around and launching a Water Gun at Bulbasaur, who hit him with Vine Whip again.

"Enough!" Said Squirtle, trying his best to maintain consciousness. "I admit defeat."

The other Squirtle watching from above all gasped at this unexpected turn of events. Their leader had never given up like this before in all the time that they had known him.

"I never thought I would see the day," Squirtle continued, "when I would find an opponent that I couldn't defeat, but you have proven me wrong."

* * *

Red knocked on the door to the cottage next to the lighthouse. An unkempt looking young man answered the door.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked.

"Hi, are you the lighthouse owner." Red greeted the man.

"Yeah. My name's Bill."

"We were passing by and thought we'd say hello. Also, we wanted to know if you've seen Yellow before." Red pointed to the girl at his side.

"Yellow?" Bill looked down at the girl for a moment. "I can't say that I have."

"Okay, that's fine." Red said. "It was kind of a long shot."

"What's it like to run a lighthouse?" Yellow asked Bill.

"Well, the lighthouse is mostly automated. I just make sure that everything works properly. It leaves me a lot of time to work on my hobbies."

"Like what?" Yellow asked enthusiastically.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" Yellow said cheerily.

"Well, then you might as well come inside." Bill gestured for them to come in. "I'll go make us some tea, then, shall I?"

The inside of the Sea Cottage was rather cluttered with various books and machines piled up against the walls.

"Sorry about the mess." Bill said. "I don't really get many visitors around here. Plus I spend most of my time at the lighthouse, so this place is mostly just for storage."

"What's going on at the lighthouse?" Red asked him.

"That's a long story. I suggest we wait until the tea is ready."

* * *

Jessie, James, Meowth, Butch, Cassidy, Attila, Hun, Annie and Oakley all sat around in their training area. They had been teleported to the location and didn't know where they were, but it seemed suspiciously like a gym. He didn't look it, but Archer was a strict teacher who was putting them all though more than any of them ever expected.

"On your feet!" He yelled as he walked back into the room. All of the agents obeyed his command immediately and stood to attention. "Thunder Squad! Thief Squad! You're going to fight a Double Battle with two Pokémon per person, no items! J Squad! Outlaw Squad! You're to observe the battle, and when their done, you're up next!"

The Team Rocket agents quickly scrambled to follow their orders. Attila and Hun stood at one end of the gym while Annie and Oakley stood at the other end and the others all went to the sidelines. Each of the competing agents waited for Archer to give them the signal to start. The moment he did, the battle began.

Attila and Hun sent out their Skarmory and Steelix while Annie and Oakley chose Espeon and Ariados to start with. Skarmory flew up into the air while Steelix dug into the ground, leaving Espeon and Ariados unable to attack them. To bide their time until they could strike, Ariados honed its attack with Swords Dance and Espeon used Work Up to increase the damage its attacks would do.

At once, Skarmory and Steelix both attacked Ariados, who barely managed to survive the two attacks. Espeon used Psybeam on Skarmory, who shrugged off the attack. Ariados used Leech Life to try to absorb some of Steelix' health, but the attack had almost no effect and Ariados was defeated when Steelix bit it with a Fire Fang.

Oakley called back her Ariados and called out an Umbreon to replace it. Annie's Espeon used Helping Hand to increase the power of Umbreon's Dark Pulse, which struck Skarmory and knocked the Pokémon out of the air. Steelix swatted Espeon across the battlefield with an Iron Tail, but was then hit by Umbreon's Payback. Skarmory rose back up and sent an Air Slash flying towards Espeon, who dodged the attack and hit the Armor Bird Pokémon with a Shadow Ball.

Attila switched out his weakened Skarmory with his Forretress. The new Pokémon hit Espeon with a Heavy Slam, knocking the Sun Pokémon unconscious. At the same time, Umbreon hit Steelix with a Dark Pulse, defeating the Iron Snake Pokémon.

Annie and Hun called in their Donphan and Scizor. Donphan used Earthquake to attack all of the Pokémon on the field except Umbreon who used Protect to avoid the damage. Scizor then struck Umbreon with X-Scissor, knocking the Moon Pokémon unconscious and leaving Oakley without any more usable Pokémon. Not wanting to be defeated, Annie ordered her Donphan to use Earthquake again. Forretress and Scizor were both left severely weakened by the attack.

Scizor slashed at Donphan with X-Scissor, drawing its attention and distracting Donphan so that Forretress could sneak behind it and use Explosion. The power of the blast wiped out all three Pokémon, and Archer called the battle.

"Very good." He said while clapping slowly. "Thunder Squad wins."

"What!" Annie yelled, outraged. "All our Pokémon fainted at the same time! It was a tie!"

"That's where you're wrong. Skarmory was switched out before it fainted, meaning that Thunder Squad still has one usable Pokémon. "

"But isn't that against the rules?" Oakley tried to argue.

"I said that each combatant could only use two Pokémon. I didn't say anything about not switching them out. When it comes to battle, you must keep track of everything that goes on or you _will_ lose." Archer turned to the agents sitting in the sidelines. "J Squad! Outlaw Squad! You're up!"


	19. Chapter 19

Jessie and James stood nervously at one end of the training battle field while Butch and Cassidy stood at the other end. Between the Team Rocket Agents stood their Pokémon, all awaiting their orders.

As soon as Archer called for the battle to begin, Cassidy and Butch had their Raticate and Primeape charge at Jessie's Arbok and James' Weezing with a Double-Edge and Close Combat, respectively. Both attacks hit before Arbok and Weezing could react. After a moment of stunned pause, Arbok Wrapped itself around Raticate while Weezing launched a Sludge attack at Primeape. Primeape tried to hit Arbok with a Cross Chop to rescue its companion but Arbok twisted around so that the attack hit Raticate instead. Raticate was knocked unconscious by the powerful Fighting-type move.

Cassidy recalled Raticate and sent out her second Pokémon, Wobbuffet. Weezing released a Smokescreen to cover the field in a dark cloud while Arbok launched itself at Wobbuffet to Crunch the Psychic-type in its powerful maw. As soon as the attack hit, Wobbuffet used Counter to hit Arbok and knocked it out in the process, while Primeape managed to land a Cross Chop on Weezing, knocking it out as well.

Jessie and James sent out their new Lickitung and Victreebel at the same time. Victreebel struck Primeape with Leaf Storm, knocking it out and forcing Butch to call out his Poliwrath. Lickitung used Rollout, crashing into Wobbuffet and knocking the Pokémon out, but Wobbuffet's Shadow Tag ability caused Lickitung to faint at the same time.

The two teams were now down to their last Pokémon. But that did not last for long. Victreebel used Leaf Storm again and Poliwrath was defeated instantly.

"Very good." Archer commented as the battle ended. "For J Squad, anyway." He turned to Jessie and James. "You've proven far better than I ever expected from you. I've noticed that your strategies rely too much on luck, but that luck pays off far more than it should, so I'll allow that flaw. Outlaw Squad on the other hand…" He then turned to Butch and Cassidy on the other side of the room. "You rushed in without any thought and payed no attention to your opponents Pokémon."

Archer gestured for all of the Agents to come to him. "Thunder Squad, Thief Squad, J Squad; you've all passed your training. You can report back to Giovanni for whatever new missions he will assign you. Outlaw Squad; you require far more training."

* * *

Red, Yellow and Bill all sat in Bill's living room.

"My grandfather was the old lighthouse keeper here," Bill began his story, "but when he retired he passed it on to me. After moving over here from Goldenrod in Johto, I've spent most of my time researching Pokémon. I quickly noticed the call of a mysterious Pokémon that passes through the area during its migration. I tried to call the Pokémon here so that I could study it. Any guesses as to what that Pokémon was?" Bill pulled out an audio recorder and played a ghostly wail.

Red and Yellow both thought for a while.

"I don't recognize that call at all." Red finally said.

"Dragonite." Red and Bill both stared at Yellow in amazement.

"How do you know that?" Red asked her.

Yellow just shrugged her shoulders, and didn't say anything more, so Bill moved on.

"That's right. But it wasn't just any Dragonite. This specific Dragonite was far larger than normal. Studies show that the average Dragonite is only a little taller than 7', but this one was even larger than the lighthouse itself. Unfortunately, when I called it, the giant Dragonite damaged the lighthouse, which is why it's closed right now. Although the repairs are coming along nicely, so it should be running again within a few days at most."

"Do you have any idea how it managed to get that big?" Red asked Bill.

"I'm afraid I don't. But reports of Pokémon that are different sizes or colors than normal come from all over the world. One of the most well-known would be the Cianwood Tyranitar."

"What's that?"

"In the Johto region there are legends of a massive black Tyranitar that terrorized the area in ancient times before being sealed away in the area that is now the city of Cianwood by the combined forces of Ho-Oh, Lugia and Celebi. It's the only time all three of Johto's Legendary Pokémon were known to work together. Most just assumed that the Cianwood Tyranitar was nothing more than myth until 12 years ago, during construction of the Cliff Edge Gate near Cianwood City, when the Tyranitar was reawakened and began to wreak havoc again. It was only stopped by the two strongest trainers in Johto working together against it."

Red and Yellow both stared at Bill in amazement.

"I haven't heard of that." Red commented.

"I've heard the two trainers later moved to Pallet Town a while back." Bill continued. "I think their names were Graham Ketchum and Carmine Noir. Something like that."

Red let out a sigh. "You had me going there."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm from Pallet Town. Mr. Ketchum disappeared when I was young, so never really got to know him, but I have met Mr. Noir. There's no way a lazy, unmotivated guy like him would be able to do something like that."

"You… what?" Bill was astonished by this revelation, but quickly recomposed himself. "I'm not making this up. I should still have an old news recording from when it happened."

* * *

"I am going to go with you." Bulbasaur, Charmander were both shocked by Squirtle's statement.

"What?"

"You have defeated me in battle and proven that I am not worthy of leading the Squirtle Squad."

The moment the words left Squirtle's mouth, the members of the Squad instantly started trying to convince him that he was wrong and that they would follow him no matter what, but he raised a hand to silence them.

"I know you will. But I cannot face myself and consider myself worthy of being your leader knowing I am not the best. It is for that reason that I shall travel with my superior until I can defeat him in a rematch. If that is alright with you." He turned back to Bulbasaur, who nodded. Squirtle put his hand on the shoulder of one of his followers. "I will leave you in charge until I return. And make no mistake, I will return and I will be stronger than ever!"

* * *

"This is Mary reporting in from the Gold N. Rod Corporation's annual beach fundraiser here at the Olivine Beach. Things are going great here and…"

The reporter stopped talking when everyone in the crowd behind her started screaming and running away. She turned around to see what was going on as the camera focused on a large, dark object in the background. The object crashed into the opposite end of the beach and stood up tall. The mighty black Tyranitar, standing at roughly 26 feet tall, gave a mighty roar and fired powerful Hyper Beam into the air. The massive energy beam seemed pure black, with a dark blue-purple corona.

"Oh, Arceus." Mary whispered before turning back to the camera while listening to a voice in her earbud telling her what was going on and she started talking, her voice reflecting the pure terror she felt at that moment. "This just in: a massive black Tyranitar is attacking the Olivine coast. Reports say that the Pokémon first appeared in the area around Cianwood and it… it _jumped_ across the ocean to get here. An evacuation of Olivine City has already begun."

The Tyranitar let out another Hyper Beam, this one aimed along the beach. The attack hit miles away from Mary and the cameraman, but they were still knocked back several yards by the force of the blow. As they stood back up to run away, twin blasts of fire and water struck the Tyranitar and two teenagers ran up, accompanied by a Typhlosion and a Feraligatr.

"Are we on TV?" Asked one of the teenagers, who had black hair and gray eyes, who looked like an older Ash. "Hi, mom!"

"Graham, be serious." The other said. He had shoulder length red hair and brown eyes.

"Oh, come on, Carmine. How often do we get to be on TV?"

"Don't 'come on' me. We need to stop that thing."

The two ran off towards the Typhlosion, leaving Mary looking blankly at them before turning back to the camera.

"It would appear that two Pokémon Trainers are attempting to subdue the beast in a battle. Will they be able too-"

The newsfeed cut off as the Tyranitar deflected a blow straight towards the camera.


	20. Chapter 20

Red sat in stunned silence. Yellow also sat in silence, though not particularly stunned.

"I told you." Bill said, turning off the monitor that he had just played the recording from the Tyranitar attack on.

"That did look like Carmine." Red finally spoke. "I guess I don't really know him that well, but I still didn't expect him to be capable of something like that."

"Although we really didn't see him do anything." Yellow added. "It ended just as the battle was starting."

"I've decided to look into these strange occurrences. I want to find out what makes these Pokémon so different than normal. Although I've probably taken enough of your time already." Bill grabbed some small pieces of paper from his desk and handed them to Red and Yellow. "Thanks for listening to my story. It's nice to actually talk about this stuff with other people. Take these, they're tickets to the S.S. Anne."

"What's that?" Yellow asked.

"It's a famous cruise ship. There's a party being held on it in a few days, leaving from the Vermilion Harbor. I was planning to go there with a friend of mine, but I'm stuck here for a while due to the damage to the lighthouse and my friend said she was busy with something."

"And what would that be?" Yellow pressed the subject.

"I don't know. Do you want the tickets or not?"

Red grabbed the tickets from Bill's hand. "We'll take them, thank you."

* * *

Daisy had to take a moment for her eyes to adjust when she finally reached the southern exit of the Underground Tunnel. The midday sunlight was far brighter than the dim lighting in the tunnel, and nearly blinded her when she stepped out of the cave.

"Well that felt like forever." She said to herself. "I can't wait until I get a Pokémon that I can use to fly around instead of walking through caves and tunnels."

Kanto Route 6 was little more than a grassy field surrounded by trees, with a large pond near the center. Daisy walked up to the pond, took her shoes and socks off and dipped her feet into the cool, refreshing water.

"Oh, that feels so good. I feel like I've been walking for ages."

She lay back on the ground and rested until she felt something nibble at her toes. With a shriek she pulled her feet out of the water, with a small, round Pokémon still clinging on with its toothless mouth.

Daisy decided she might as well put this Pokémon to use and grabbed an empty Pokéball from her bag. After successfully catching the Pokémon, she checked its information in her Pokédex.

"Poliwag, huh. Well, I suppose having a water type in my team should be good. Looks like you're kind of small for your species, but whatever."

* * *

Red and Yellow headed out after receiving the S.S. Tickets from Bill. After walking a few minutes back to Cerulean, Red suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" A concerned Yellow asked him.

"I just remembered that I was supposed to call Misty and let her know you're alright. Apart from the amnesia. I don't know why I keep forgetting that."

"A dramatic sense of irony?" Yellow suggested.

"We can get to Cerulean faster if we use your Abra's Teleport."

"You can Teleport?" Yellow asked in amazement as she held out Abraham's Pokéball in front of her face. "That's so cool! You've got to be the best Pokémon ever. No offence, Maggie."

Yellow called out her Psychic-type Pokémon and both she and Yellow grabbed on to its arms.

"Can you take us back to Cerulean City?" She asked Abraham, before turning to Red. "Wait, how can Abraham take us there if-" Her question was cut short as she suddenly realized they were already standing in front of the Cerulean Pokémon Center.

Red noticed the confused look on Yellow's face and explained what happened to her. "Abra have Psychic abilities that allow them to read locations from their trainers mind to teleport them there."

"Does that mean you can take me to wherever my home is?" She asked the Pokémon. Abra only shook his head in response, before nodding off back to sleep.

"What do you think that meant?" She asked.

"I don't know. Let's go call Misty."

Yellow recalled Abraham and then she and Red headed inside the Pokémon Center, where they found a puplic video phone and Red entered in the number on the back of the card Misty had given him back in Viridian. After he entered the number into the large green box, its screen lit up and Misty's face came into view.

"Hello?" The red-haired gym leader asked.

"Hi, this is Red. We met back on Route 1 a while back."

"Oh, hi Red. What's up? Is the girl alright."

"I'm fine!" Yellow said cheerily at the screen.

"She can't hear you unless you talk into this." Red told her as he handed her the telephone.

"Thank you for rescuing me." She said into the phone this time.

"It's good to see you're alright. I'm Misty."

"My name's Yellow. Maybe."

"What?" Misty looked at the girl in confusion.

"It's a long story."

* * *

Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle went on their way in no direction in particular in the loose hope of finding any clues as to where Damian was.

"So why are we looking for this guy?" Squirtle asked.

"Because he's in danger and I need to rescue him." Was Charmander's answer.

"From what you've said it sounds like he just abandoned you."

"No! He wouldn't do that. I know he wouldn't." Charmander's voice faltered increasingly as he spoke. "He wouldn't abandon me."

"Fine, whatever."

As the three Pokémon continued their journey, they crossed paths with a large woman in a gaudy purple fur coat and hat.

"What do you think she's doing out here?" Squirtle wondered aloud.

"I don't really care." Answered Bulbasaur.

"She looks like a city human." Squirtle continued as the woman walked by them. "Not the kind you see in areas like this, out in the middle of nowhere."

"That is none of your business." The woman said.

All three Pokémon turned back to the woman, who suddenly went stiff. The woman slowly turned around to face them.

"Forget that you ever saw me." The woman told them nervously, and in a sudden flash of movement the woman was gone.

"What… just… happened?" Squirtle asked.

"Let's just pretend none of that just happened and move on." Advised Bulbasaur.

* * *

Ash sat at an otherwise empty table outside the Vermilion Pallet House, looking up at the sunset, with Pikachu resting on the table. Brock had decided to go to bed early, Carmine was taking one of his walks and Misty had to take a call on her PokéGear, leaving the young trainer alone with his Pokémon.

"It's a beautiful evening." Ash said to Pikachu, though really more to himself. "I wonder what the others are up to. I'm starting to miss the good old days when we were younger. When we were kids, Daisy would take charge of our little group and we'd all follow her into all kinds of mischief. Over time she mellowed out and Gary took over that position. Red and I would just kind of get stuck in the middle of their sibling rivalry sometimes" He stared back off into the sunset. "I miss Pallet Town."

"Everyone gets homesick." Misty said as she walked up to him, carrying a drink in each hand. She sat down in the seat opposite Ash and handed one of them to him.

"What's this?" Ash asked as he took the drink.

"It's a Tropius Shake. I went to get one for myself and thought I'd be nice."

Ash took a sip from the cool fruity beverage. The taste was unfamiliar to him, but he enjoyed it. "That seems unusual for you." He snidely remarked.

"Ha, ha." Misty said dryly. "I was just in a good mood. That's all."

"What was your phone call about?" Ash asked the red-head inquisitively.

"Oh, nothing you'd care about."

They both took a moment of silence to drink and watch the sun as it finished its descent down the horizon, the golden-orange light fading from view.

"So, what are your plans for tomorrow? Or should I say our plans?" Misty asked the aspiring young trainer.

"I'm going to challenge the gym here and earn my second Badge. Then probably head out to Saffron."

"Do you think about anything other than Pokémon?" Misty asked the boy with a small chuckle.

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to." Ash told her.

"You still owe me a bike. And at the rate you're going, I wouldn't really get home any faster anyway, so I might as well enjoy the company."

Ash and Misty continued their conversation, full of quips and minor insults at each other, for several hours. They completely lost track of the time until Carmine came back and, somewhat hypocritically, berated Ash for staying up so late.


	21. Chapter 21

"This is bad. This is really bad." Thought a lone Pikachu jumping from tree to tree in an attempt to get to Cerulean City as fast as possible. "There's no way I can keep track of her if she has an Abra that can teleport anywhere. And what happens if she tries to go back home. 'He' would find her in an instant. I guess I have no choice but to face her. It's the only way I can protect her now."

* * *

Ash walked into the Vermilion City Gym with confidence in his stride. The others trailed behind him. The interior of the Vermilion Gym seemed rather plain at first, but something seemed off about the lighting, it seemed to randomly get brighter and darker at a chaotic speed. Ash looked up to see what was going on and was shocked by what he saw.

The floor was covered in orange-yellow tiles and the walls were plated in some kind of dark metal, which seemed normal enough. But the ceiling had large tesla-coil like pylon jutting down from it, with bolts of blue lightning flying between them seemingly at random.

"What…" Ash started to ask.

"Hey, kid! What do you think you're doing here?" A large blonde man in military camouflage walked up to Ash.

"I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader!" Ash answered defiantly.

"Now that's a shocker. What makes you think you can take me on?"

"I can take on anyone! I've already earned the Boulder Badge and I'm ready for another."

"Fine, kid. But you won't last long in combat." The man walked over to the other end of the battle field, clapped his hands, and suddenly the lighting turned to normal. "I'm Lieutenant Surge and I accept your challenge." The man pulled out a Pokéball and threw it out over the field, the red light coming from it revealing a Pikachu.

Ash looked down at the Pokéball in his hand. This was to be his Sandshrew's big moment. Electric-type moves wouldn't be able to affect a Ground-type like Sandshrew, as he learned back in Pewter. But then he looked over to the Pikachu standing before him and up to the one resting on his shoulder.

"Are you going to send out your Pokémon or just stand there?" Surge called out to him.

Ash let out a sign and lowered the Pokéball back to his belt. "Sorry Sandshrew." He muttered. "But I just can't resist the challenge. Pikachu! I choose you!"

Ash stretched his arm out forward and Pikachu ran along it, jumping off his wrist, doing a double summersault and sticking a three-point landing in front of Surge's Pikachu. Despite being the same species, it was clear that the two Pikachu were very different. Surge's stood several inches taller than Ash's Pikachu and had a lot more muscle to it.

"Then let the battle begin!" Lt. Surge called out. "Pikachu, Thunder Punch!"

Surge's Pikachu slammed an electrified fist straight into Ash's Pikachu's cheek, sending the Mouse Pokémon spinning back and landing hard onto the ground.

"Don't let him treat you like that, Pikachu!" Ash cried out to his Pokémon. "Give him a Quick Attack!"

In a split second Ash's Pikachu suddenly moved with speed far beyond what it should be capable of, dodging another Thunder Punch and tackling his opponent from behind. Surge's Pikachu retaliated with an Iron Tail, smashing Ash's Pikachu across the room into a wall. Rather than slamming into the wall, however, Pikachu was able to jump off of it, gaining momentum to hit his opponent right in the face with a Brick Break. Surge's Pikachu let out a Growl, which caught Ash's Pikachu off guard and prevented him from guarding against a Tackle.

"Come on, Pikachu! You can do it, I believe in you!"

Ash's Pikachu felt reenergized by his master's words of confidence and got back up. He stared his opponent in the eyes, before enveloping himself in electricity and charging into Surge's Pikachu with a powerful Volt Tackle. The force of the blow sent Surge's Pikachu flying into a wall. He tried to bounce off of it like Ash's Pikachu had done earlier, but just as he was about to do so, Ash's Pikachu hit him with a Thunder Bolt. The attack didn't do much damage on its own, but it distracted him just long enough to crash into the wall. When Surge's Pikachu fell to the ground, he struggled to get back up, but collapsed due to the strain.

"I didn't see that coming." Surge said as he recalled his Pikachu into its Pokéball and walked over to Ash. You've definitely earned this Thunder Badge."

Ash happily took the badge from the Gym Leader and held it high. Pikachu leapt back onto his shoulder and the two looked up in pride. They then realized that was a mistake as the electricity surging up above resumed.

"Quit that already!" Surge yelled up at the ceiling. The electricity stopped again and then suddenly struck down next to where Surge was standing. "What have I told you about messing with the power grid, Rotom?"

The ghostly ball of electricity made a buzzing noise before slowly drifting away.

"What was that?" Ash asked in amazement.

"Just a disobedient Pokémon. By the way, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"How would you feel about trading that Pikachu of yours to me for one of mine?"

"What? No!" Ash was taken aback by the request.

"That's what I thought. I've been trying to get my hands on Pikachu that knows Volt Tackle for a while, but they're rare and hard to find."

"I'm not giving away my Pikachu." Insisted Ash.

"I understand. How about you just borrow one of mine instead?" Surge pulled a Quick Ball off from his belt and held it out. "See if you can teach her how to use the move."

Ash wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I'll make it worth your while. She's holding a Light Ball that I'll let you keep. It powers up a Pikachu's moves. I can also look into getting you some tickets for the S.S. Anne; the captain's an old friend of mine."

"Take the deal, Ash!" Misty yelled from the side of the room when she heard that last part.

"Okay, I guess…" Ash relented at last.

"Great! I got Volty here from a friend in Kallos. I expect you to give her back to me when she learns Volt Tackle." Surge handed Sparky's Quick Ball to a reluctant Ash, while a sly smile crossed over his face. "Or, you know, something along those lines."

* * *

Gary and his cheerleaders were making their way south on the Route 17 highway, but the traffic was so bad that Mal turned off at the first exit they could take instead of going all the way to Fuchsia like they had planned. The exit took them to a small, dingy town with only a few buildings that looked about as different from Celadon as night and day.

"What is this place?" Garry wondered aloud.

"I think this is…" Ali started to answer but trailed of. "I don't know."

"Mossgreen Village." Answered Cleo.

"I've never been here before." Kat remarked.

"Hey!" A young woman picking herbs from off the side of the road stopped what she was doing and called out to them. She had dark green hair wrapped up in buns on either side of her head and light brown eyes. "Are you looking for the Gym?"

"There's a Gym here?" Gary questioned.

"Sure there is. It just opened about a year or two ago." The woman placed the herbs she had been picking into a back labeled 'Mossgreen Medicine' as she spoke.

"Then where is it?"

"Come on, I'll take you." She stood up and motioned for them to follow her.

* * *

After seeing Ash and his traveling companions out, Lieutenant Surge returned to his Gym, where Rotom was waiting inside of a small computer terminal. The plasma Pokémon used its control over the computer to type words on the screen.

 _-What are you doing? You know that Volt Tackle can't be learned.-_

"I know." Surge acknowledged. "During the battle, I could tell that the kid had a knack for bringing out the potential in his Pokémon. That kind of skill could come in handy for Pokémon breeding, but a kid like him wouldn't be open to that idea. So, I gave him Volty so that hopefully she and his Pikachu can get together, maybe have a couple Pichu."

 _-But what if that doesn't happen.-_

"It doesn't really matter. Volty never liked it here and she was too fickle to use as a breeder. So at least she can hopefully be a bit happier out traveling. I'd honestly be a little surprised if she did pick that Pikachu as a mate."

 _-It sounds like you don't expect to get anything from this. That seems unlike you.-_

"You know Pokémon breeding is a passion of mine. I want to start sharing that with others. Even if nothing happens now, I can try and more directly introduce him to the idea when he's more open to it. I just have a gut feeling he'd be a natural at it."

 _-On an unrelated note, when are you finally going to start using me in battle?-_

"You know I can only use Pokémon native to the region for Gym Battles."

 _-I still had to ask.-_


	22. Chapter 22

"Well, this is it." The green haired girl gestured towards the Mossgreen Town Gym.

"Are you sure this is a Gym?" Gary asked, a little mockingly.

"Of course I'm sure."

Gary followed the girl inside, with his cheerleader's following him. The interior of the building was covered in moss and vines, with a Beedrill hive visible in one corner.

"Yeah, there's no way this is a Gym." Gary turned to leave.

"Of course it is! What did you expect a Bug-type Gym to look like?" The girl countered.

"If this is a Gym, then where's the Gym Leader?"

"I'm standing right here." Cassandra looked indignant as she spoke. "My name's Cassandra and I hold the proud honor of being Kanto's newest Gym Leader."

"Well, then." Gary tried to hide his surprise at this revelation. "I challenge you to a battle. I've already got three badges."

"Okay then. This will be a one-on-one battle with three Pokémon each."

"Wait, what?" Gary was a little taken aback by that. "But all of my Gym battles so far were only one Pokémon on each side."

"That's because you didn't have enough badges yet." Cassandra explained. "In order to keep Gym battles fair for trainers, the rules change according to how many Badges the trainer has. Less than three means a one vs. one, and the Gym Leader can only use a basic-level Pokémon. Three to four badges is a three vs. three battle and five to seven badges is a six vs. six battle. If you already have eight badges you can continue challenging more gyms in free-for-all battles where the Gym Leaders no longer have to follow the normal Gym regulations."

"I can challenge more than just eight?" Gary asked, a smirk crossing his face.

"Yeah." Kat chimed in. "I've got nine. Plus your progress carries over between Leagues so you can continue earning Badges in other regions as well."

"I'll have to keep that in mind. Now, "Gary turned back to Cassandra, "let's start that battle."

* * *

Red and Yellow traveled through the Underground Tunnel running between Cerulean and Viridian.

"Can't we just teleport there?" Yellow whined.

"I already told you; Abra have to visualize where they're going. That means they have to have been there themselves or use their telepathic abilities to see the area through their owners memories. Since neither of us have been to Viridian and it doesn't look like Abraham's been there either, we have to walk."

"But can't we just have Abraham teleport us over there," she pointed forward, "as far as we can see. Then teleport again, and again, until we reach the end of the path?"

The two stopped walking as Red considered her idea. He looked down to the sleeping Pokémon clutched tightly in Yellow's arms.

"I guess we could give it a try. It's not like we'd be missing out on anything down here."

* * *

Gary sent out his Pidgeotto to battle Cassandra's first Pokémon: Butterfree. The two flying Pokémon fluttered around in the air before their trainers gave them the order to attack.

"Pidgeotto! Use Gust!" The Bird Pokémon flapped its wings hard to create a bellow of wind that launched straight for the opposing Butterfree, knocking the Butterfly Pokémon down to the ground. Pidgeotto followed up with a Quick Attack, dive-bombing its opponent before the Butterfree had a chance to get up.

Butterfree countered with a wave of Confusion. The purple energy blast knocked Pidgeotto away and gave Butterfree a chance to recompose itself. Pidgeotto launched two rounds of Gust, Butterfree was able to dodge the first blast of air with ease, but in doing so flew straight into the second. Pidgeotto followed the assault up with another Quick Attack, knocking Butterfree to the ground again. This time, Butterfree was unable to get back up again, so Cassandra swapped her out for Beedrill.

Beedrill opened up with a Swords Dance, using the elegant gyrating movements to hone its attack power. Gary saw this as an opening and ordered his Pidgeotto to use Sand-Attack. The Bird Pokémon swooped down and launched a blast of dirt into Beedrill's eyes. The Poison Bee Pokémon tried to jab Pidgeoto with a Venoshock, but missed because it could no longer see clearly.

Pidgeotto launched a Gust attack at Beedrill, who was knocked to the ground like Butterfree had been. Pidgeotto tried to follow up the attack with a Quick Attack like he had done with Butterfree, but Beedrill wasn't one to open itself to an easy attack. Beedrill thrust one of his arm-stingers strait up in a Venoshock attack, which Pidgeotto flew right into. Pidgeotto found itself Poisoned from the attack. Beedrill followed up with another Venoshock. Pidgeotto was barely able to muster up enough strength to hit Beedrill with another Gust, and both Pokémon collapsed to the ground.

Gary called out his male Nidoran as Cassandra sent out her last Pokémon, Parasect. Parasect immediately struck Nidoran with a Cross Poison, but fortunately for Gary, the attack didn't do much against the Poison-Type Nidoran. Nidoran charged the Parasect with his horn in a Peck attack. Parasect was sent reeling back from the super effective move, but quickly regained itself and launched a Stun Spore at Nidoran. The spore cased Nidoran to freeze up as it hit, allowing Parasect to come in close to Slash at the Poison Pin Pokémon with its large pincers.

Nidoran then stuck its opponent with a Horn Attack, knocking the Mushroom Pokémon off its legs and opening it up for a couple Peck attacks before Parasect was able to get back up. At this point Parasect was showing signs of fatigue and tried a last ditch effort to defeat its opponent with another Slash, but Nidoran evaded the hit and finished the battle with another Peck.

Nidoran began to glow a brilliant white as Cassandra walked over to Gary. By the time the Gym Leader reached the aspiring trainer, the Pokémon had evolved into a Nidorino.

"Good job." Cassandra told Gary. "Here's your Mushroom Badge."

"Nice!" Gary said as he grabbed the red fungus-shaped badge from her hand. "Another badge and an evolution! Could this get any better?"

"Don't be too confident." Cassandra said. "I'm probably the weakest Gym Leader in Kanto. The only reason I even took this job was to help bring in more business for my grandma's medicine shop."

"Do I look like I care? A win's a win. Now, off too…" Gary trailed off.

"If you follow the road through town you'll eventually get to Viridian." Cassandra politely informed him.

"Off to Viridian!"

* * *

Daisy finally made her way to Viridian City after what felt like days of walking since she left Cerulean. It probably had been days, but it was hard to tell when so much of her trip had been underground. She was just walking up to the Pokémon Center when two familiar figures suddenly popped up in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere.

"That worked even better than I thought it would. Good idea, Yellow." Red said to his young companion.

"Red? Yellow?" Daisy muttered in surprise.

"Oh, hey Daisy. What a coincidence." Red said as he noticed his old friend.

"Hi!" Yellow said cheerfully.

"It seems like we just keep running into each other." Daisy tried to downplay her surprise at the two's sudden appearance. "By the way, is your offer to go with you still open?"

"Of course it is."

"Thanks. Going alone just gets kind of boring after a while."

"Although…" Red continued, "There is a bit of a problem with that. We were going to go on the S.S. Anne, but we only have two tickets."

"I'll figure something out."

* * *

Tensions seemed high in Team Rocket's conference room. At one end of the long table sat Giovanni, stroking the Persion laying by his side. At the other end, Hunter J sat stroking a Zorua resting in her lap and smirking brazenly. Jessie, James, Meowth, Attila, Hun, Annie and Oakley all sat between them, glancing back and forth between the two.

"Ahem." Giovanni cleared his throat. "According to Executive Archer, you have all passed his training and proven yourselves to be the best Team Rocket has to offer now. Although I trust Archer's word, I will need proof of that, which is why you are here."

Giovanni picked up a small remote that had been lying on the table in front of him and clicked a button on the remote. Suddenly the table lit up with the schematics of a luxury cruise ship.

"This is the S.S. Anne. In a few days this ship will leave from the Vermillion Harbor. Its passengers will consist of the richest men and women in the country and some of the strongest trainers. Your mission is to steel every Pokémon on that ship before it reaches its destination."

Attila scoffed at that. "And here I thought you were going to give us something hard to do."

"Oh, it will be difficult." Giovanni countered. "We're going to leak information about this mission to the International Police through Domino. They will know you will be there and they will try to stop you. Your test is to pull of the mission successfully despite that."

An uneasy silence filled the room. Everyone in Team Rocket had heard the name Domino, it was the codename for Team Rocket's infiltrator within the International Police. However, Domino was so highly confidential that most in the Team thought that he or she was nothing more than rumor. For Giovanni to mention Domino so casually was a sign of how much he trusted them now.

"Hunter J will be accompanying you for this mission to help you deal with any unforeseen issues. Are there any questions?" Giovanni looked around the room expectantly, but no one spoke up. "No? Then what are you still doing here? Get ready."


	23. Chapter 23

As Ash and his group began their trek up north up to Cerulean, Ash decided to check out his new Pokémon. He held out the Quick Ball and pressed the front button. A beam of yellow energy shot out from the device, as opposed to the red energy of a standard Pokéball, and the Pikachu materialized on the ground in front of Ash.

Volty looked almost identical to the Pikachu Ash already had. The only significant difference being that the tip of her tail was rounded and had a small divot in it that made her tail look almost heart-shaped. A characteristic of all female Pikachu. The Pikachu resting on Ash's shoulder jumped down to the ground to greet the new Pikachu. The two sniffed at each other for a moment, then batted their tails together, sending out sparks as they made contact.

"You know Pikachu…" Ash started to say. "Things may get kind of confusing to keep calling you Pikachu if I have two of you around now. I think you need a nickname."

The yellow mouse Pokémon looked up at his trainer and gave a lively "Pika!"

"Pika it is, then." He held out his arms towards the two Pikachu. "Come on! I've got shoulders for both of you!"

Pika and Volty both jumped up his arms and climbed up onto Ash's shoulders, where they rested beside each other.

"You know, you're probably going to kill your neck that way." Commented Carmine.

"Why do you have to take the fun out of everything?"

"Because it's kind of my job." Carmine gave a small smirk. "I also find it mildly funny, and I need all the amusement I can when watching over you."

"You're kind of a jerk." Misty pointed out.

"I know I am."

* * *

Red and Yellow walked up to the entrance of the Vermilion Gym while Daisy went off to try and get an S.S. Ticket. They stepped inside the large building and Red approached the battlefield while Yellow walked up to the sideline bleachers to watch the battle.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle!" Red shouted to Lt. Surge from across the floor.

"I accept your challenge. Let's see…" The Gym Leader looked down to a device in his hand. "It says here in your record you have two badges so far. That means this will be a one-on-one battle."

Red called out his Charmeleon while Surge sent out his Pikachu. The two Pokémon faced each other while their trainers called out their first commands.

Charmeleon and Pikachu leapt towards each other with a Metal Claw and a Thunder Punch, respectively. The two Pokémon each struck the other in the face with their attacks and glared at each other from behind each other's fists. The two then jumped away from each other to prepare for their next attacks. Charmeleon spit out an Ember at the Pikachu, who dodged the attack and countered with a Thundershock. The Electric attack struck Charmeleon and Paralyzed him. Pikachu took this opportunity to hit Charmeleon with an Iron Tail, smashing him into the ground. Charmeleon was able to let out another Ember, which struck the Pikachu this time and gave him a Burn.

With both Pokémon severally weakened at this point, it was anyone's guess who would win. Red had Charmeleon fire another Ember, which Pikachu dodged again and hit Charmeleon with another Thunder Punch. This was Red's plan however, and now that Pikachu was in range, he ordered his Charmeleon to use Scratch on the opposing Pokémon's legs. Pikachu was knocked down by the attack, allowing Charmeleon to defeat it with another Ember.

"Good match." Said Lt. Surge as he walked up to Red. "You've earned this Thunder Badge."

Red took the badge gratefully, but then Surge continued speaking.

"Where did your Charmander learn Metal Claw? That's not a normal move for a Charmander to have."

"I don't know." Red answered honestly. "I noticed he had the move back when I fought Brock, but I don't know where he learned it from."

"Oh well. It's probably not important." Surge's words suggested he didn't care, but something about his mannerisms suggested to Red that he was still interested.

* * *

While Red was challenging the Viridian Gym, Daisy was waiting in line at the Viridian Harbor for what felt like at least an hour. Finally, she managed to make her way to the stand where tickets were being sold to board the various passenger boats and cruise ships that leave from the harbor.

"Hello, I'd like one ticket for the S.S. Anne please." She told the attendant.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid tickets for the S.S. Anne are available only through invitation. You can't actually buy them here."

Daisy was disappointed and felt like she had just wasted all of that time spent waiting in line, but then she remembered something. Walking away so that those behind her could buy their tickets, she pulled a Pokégear out of the bag slung over her shoulder and used it to make a call.

"Hi, Dad. Can I get a favor from you?"

* * *

"So where did you say you were from again?" Brock asked Carmine as they, Ash and Misty walked along the Underground Tunnel on their way to Cerulean.

"I'm from Cianwood City in Johto. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I just feel like I should get to know you better since we're traveling together."

"We're also traveling with Misty and the kid."

"I already know Misty fairly well as a fellow Gym Leader and Ash is pretty open about himself. But you seem to keep to yourself a lot."

"I've had a hard life that I don't feel like discussing at the moment. I left home when I has about Ash's age, I met Ash's dad and we became rivals and eventually friends and I was pressured into joining Team Rocket but eventually turned against them and moved to Pallet Town. That's all you need to know at this point."

"What do you mean when you say you were pressured into joining Team Rocket? Did someone make you join?"

Carmine ignored Brock's question and continued walking. Meanwhile, Ash and Misty were trailing behind the others while watching Volty's behavior.

"She sure is friendly." Misty commented as she stroked Volty's chin. Small sparks came from the rodent's cheeks and she made a small squeak of joy.

"Yeah, not like Pika here." Ash immediately regretted that remark as Pika gave him a small shock. "That was just a joke. Sheesh."

Misty let out a small giggle, to which Ash shot her a dirty look. Then that look faded into a different one as something donned on him.

"I just remembered something." Ash said as he plunged his hand into one of his pockets. "Back when I was talking to the Pokémon Fan Club President back in Viridian, he gave me this." The trainer fished a small piece from the pocket and handed it to Misty.

"What's this?" She asked as she took the piece of paper from his hand. Her eyes went wide when she took a good look at it. "A bike voucher?"

"He said it was worth any bike at the Miracle Cycle shop in Cerulean. I figure that should be sufficient payment for your damaged bike." Ash explained with a smile.

"Yeah…" Misty trailed off. "I guess it does. Which means I don't… I won't have a reason to continue to travel with you after we get there."

"Yeah. But that's what you want, right? After all, you've made it clear you don't like me and you've been almost nothing but mean to me this entire trip."

"But what about back in Vermilion? When we had that long talk over fruit shakes?"

The two gazed into each other's eyes for a moment then turned away in embarrassment.

"Okay, I guess you have a point there. You were nice to me then. But still, I thought you wanted to go home and stop traveling with me?"

"I, I guess I do. I just didn't realize you'd be able to pay me back so soon. I was expecting this to go on a little longer." Misty turned away again to hide the fact she was starting to blush.

The whole group walked in silence for the rest of the trip through the tunnel.


	24. Chapter 24

"Here we are, Cerulean City." Misty announced halfheartedly to the rest of the group as they reached the outskirts of the city. "The floral lagoon city and town of bursting water, my home town."

"I guess this marks goodbye, then." Ash said to her, a little sadness present in his voice.

"I'll go ahead and stick with you until you get to the Gym."

"Alright then," Ash pointed off into the distance. "Off to the Cerulean Gym we go!"

Misty pushed his arm a few inches to the right so that he pointed to the opposite end of town.

"It's that way."

The two marched off towards the Gym, but Carmine and Brock stayed behind for a moment.

"What do you think that was about?" Brock asked the older trainer.

"It looks like they've grown attached to each other." Carmine answered. "And the bonds formed on a Pokémon Journey are not easily broken. That's something I've learned from experience."

Carmine started walking after Ash and Misty, leaving Brock to catch up to them.

* * *

Gary and his cheerleaders were riding on their way to Vermilion when Gary received a call on his Pokégear. He answered the call and the girls all sat in silence as they waited for the call to be over. Finally, Gary pulled the device away from his ear and put it back away in his pocket.

"What was that about?" One of the girls asked him.

"It was my dad." Gary answered. "He said that he just got a bunch of tickets to the S.S. Anne and decided to send some of them to us."

The girls were all ecstatic with that news. The S.S. Anne was known far and wide as the biggest and most luxurious cruise liner in the country and actually getting on it was considered nearly impossible by most.

"He said we're supposed to pick up the tickets at the Vermilion Pokémon Center and that the ship leaves tomorrow."

* * *

When they reached the Cerulean Gym, Ash went straight to the pool in the center of the room, while Carmine and Brock sat on the bleachers to the sides and Misty walked around to the other side.

"Where's the Gym Leader?" Ash asked.

"There are four Gym Leaders here." Explained Misty as she reached the opposite end of the pool. "And I happen to be one of them."

Ash was caught off guard by this statement at first. But then he thought back and realized that there were signs leading up to it.

"I guess that would be why Brock knows you."

"Yep. We tend to hang out at Gym Leader meetings since we signed up for our positions around the same time."

"Well then. Misty, I challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

Misty held out a Pokéball that she had already pulled out of the console she was standing next to.

"I accept your challenge, Ash. But be warned, I may be the youngest of the four sisters that run this Gym, but I'm also the strongest."

"If you're the youngest, then shouldn't that make you the weakest?" Ash asked.

"No, why would you even think that? First off, I'm the only one who actually puts any effort in training and actually trying to do my job. And even if that wasn't the case, being younger wouldn't automatically make me weaker."

It was obvious that Ash had unwittingly hit a sore spot for Misty.

"I was just trying to make a joke. I didn't mean for you to take it personally." Ash held out his arm towards Misty. "Now, let's get this started! Pika, I choose you!"

Ash's first Pokémon ran along his arm and jumped off of it to the edge of the pool. Pika had a look of determination as he readied himself for the fight.

"Go, Staryu!" Misty threw the Pokéball out over the pool and a brown, star-shaped Pokémon with a red gem in its center came forth from it and hovered in the air above the water. "Let the battle begin!"

Pika launched a Thundershock at Staryu, who dodged the attack and flew around the room. The Water-type was spinning around so fast as it moves that it now looked more like a disk than a star. Pika kept trying to hit its opponent with Thundershock, but Staryu was able to dodge every blow with ease.

Staryu was able to make its way around Pikachu and Tackled it from behind, knocking the Mouse Pokémon into the pool. Pikachu splashed around helplessly as Staryu went in for another Tackle. The star-shaped Pokémon rammed itself against Pikachu and they both went deep into the water. That was a mistake.

"Pika!" Ash yelled. "Now's your chance! Volt Tackle!"

Pika could not actually here his master's voice from below the water, but still knew what to do. The Electric rodent shot straight out of the water and high into the air while engulfed in electricity. The electricity spread throughout the water and zapped Staryu as Pikachu landed safely on the ground.

"It looks like this battle is over." Ash said smugly.

"Don't be so sure of that. Staryu! Recover!"

Misty's Pokémon lifted itself weakly out of the water and began to glow for a second. When the glow faded, Staryu appeared to be fine, as if it hadn't even started the battle yet.

"Okay…" Ash said weakly. "I didn't expect that."

"As long as Staryu still has any energy left, it can Recover from anything you can do to it!"

"Then I guess that means I'll just have to make sure your Staryu doesn't have any energy left!" Ash grabbed the brim of his cap and turned it backwards on his head. "Pika, new plan: don't let up until Staryu's down!"

The Mouse Pokémon nodded at Ash and used a Quick Attack to knock himself into his opponent and the two fell back into the pool again. Pikachu then let out five blasts of Thundershock that spread throughout the pool, each hit doing massive damage to Staryu. Staryu tried to flee the pool into the safety of the air to use recover again, but before it could heal itself, Pikachu jumped out of the water with a Quick Attack and knocked Staryu back into the water with a Brick Break, before charging back into the water with a Volt Tackle.

Pikachu jumped out of the pool again to stand before Ash. The two were just about to celebrate their victory when Staryu rose out of the water again, and then collapsed in from Misty.

"Wow!" was all Misty could say at first. "I guess you win."

The young Gym Leader walked around the pool, over to Ash.

"Here's your Cascade Badge. I'm still shocked you were able to beat Staryu so quickly though."

Ash grinned. "I don't think you were quite as 'shocked' as Staryu though."

Misty glared at Ash for a second. "Oh, just take the badge and leave already. I also wanted to give you this." She handed him a Pokéball.

"You're giving me a Pokémon?"

"It's a Krabby that I caught while fishing on Route 1 just before… well, it was shortly before we met. I already have a Krabby in my collection and I was just going to trade it away for something else, but I figured you could use a Water Pokémon in your team."

"I guess this means goodbye then." Ash said as he took the Pokéball from her.

"I'm sure we'll meet again."

The two looked at each other before Ash turned to leave, Carmine and Brock following after him. Misty slowly walked back over to her Staryu and returned the fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball. She put the Pokéball back into the console that, in addition to storing Gym Pokémon, also worked like one of the Pokémon healing machines found in Pokémon Centers. She then noticed something odd.

"Misty? When'd you get back?" A familiar voice sounded from the entrance of the Gym.

"Hi, Daisy." Misty turned to greet her oldest sister. "I just got here. Why aren't your Pokémon here?"

Daisy blushed as she walked closer to her sister. "Well, you see… that's kind of a long story…"

"Where are your Pokémon?" Misty was becoming deeply concerned with her sister's behavior.

"Well… shortly before you left I met this guy named Bill who runs the lighthouse up north and we really hit it off. He's a big Pokémon fan and being with him, I learned more about Pokémon and started to take more of an interest in them. I decided to start training so that I could do a better job at being a Gym Leader but I've been too embarrassed to let the others know, so I've been doing it in secret."

Daisy spoke so fast that Misty was barely able to process what she said.

"Wait a minute. Did you just say that you're actually going to start taking your Gym Leader responsibilities seriously?"

"Yes." Daisy voice was barely more than a squeak.

Misty pondered that for a moment before speaking again.

"If I leave for a while, would you be willing to take charge of the Gym?"

"That's what we already do."

"I don't mean like what you have been doing. I mean, will you actually take responsibility of the Gym as a full-time Gym Leader?"

Daisy hesitated before answering. "I guess so. Where are you going?"

Misty gave a huge smile. "An adventure."


	25. Chapter 25

"Oh no!" The mysterious Pikachu worried to herself. "She's not here. She's already left Cerulean City. How am I supposed to find her if she can be anywhere at any time?"

"I might be able to help with that."

The sound of another's voice started the Pikachu and she shot a bolt of electricity towards its source.

"Wow, that was a close one for me."

The voice came from behind Pikachu now. She turned around to face her visitor.

"Wait a minute…" A sudden realization came to the Pikachu. "I know you. You're her Abra!"

"Guilty as charged." The Psi Pokémon said, or rather thought, to the Pikachu. "My name's Abraham."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, as I know you are already aware, I am a Psychic-type with the ability to read the minds of those around me in order to detect danger. Thanks to those abilities, I know what's going on and how important it is to keep Yellow away from 'him'."

"Yellow?" The Pikachu asked questioningly.

"That's what she goes by now. She doesn't remember her real name."

"So why are you here, anyway? You still haven't told me."

"I was getting to that. I know how important it is to prevent 'him' from finding Yellow, so I'm here to offer you a deal. I'll keep you informed of where she goes and what she does. I'll even teleport you so that you can continue to keep a close eye on her yourself. All I ask in return is that you keep 'him' from ever finding her. But that's already what you're trying to do, so it shouldn't be any problem for you."

"This is a trick."

"No, it's not. I genuinely care for the wellbeing of my new trainer and I do not want any harm to come to her."

The Pikachu eyed Abraham from head to toe, trying to find any sign of deception, but to no avail.

"Fine." She said at last. "But I still don't trust you."

"Of course not. Trust is something that must be earned over time." Abraham agreed. "Or if you can read thoughts and know someone's true intent, but I guess you're not quite developed enough for that."

Pikachu tried to hide her shock from that, not that it mattered. "How much do you know?"

"Everything you do."

* * *

Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle continued on their way in the seemingly hopeless pursuit of Charmander's trainer, Damian. With no leads to go off of and absolutely no idea where they were going, the group eventually wandered up to a Pokémon Center. Squirtle looked up at the sign on the front of the building and read it aloud.

"Rock Tunnel Pokémon Center, Route 10."

Charmander and Bulbasaur both stared at him in amazement.

"You can read human?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Of course I can! I'm sure Charmander here can read too, right?"

"No." Charmander replied.

"Huh, that's odd. Didn't your trainer ever teach you?"

"No." Charmander looked down in embarrassment.

"Are you implying that you had a trainer that taught you?" Bulbasaur asked, intrigued.

Squirtle took a deep breath and pulled out a locket that was tucked into his shell. He opened the locket and showed his companions the picture inside. It showed a young girl with light blue hair and eyes holding a younger Squirtle. The girl in the photo was wearing the same unusual, pointed sunglasses that Squirtle now wore.

"Her name was Samantha, but to me she was Sam. When she was young, she was become stricken with an illness that left her physically weak and unable to interact much with people her own age. Her parents bought me as an egg from a breeder and gave me to her to be her companion. We were happy together for many years, but the illness returned and she passed away. Sam's parents released me into the wild shortly after with only this locket and these shades to remember her by."

Bulbasaur and Charmander both stared at Squirtle in awe and sadness.

"But rather than let grief and sadness take me over," Squirtle continued. "I chose to continue on for both of us! That's what led me to found the Squirtle Squad and it is why I strive to be the best that I can be!"

Charmander and Bulbasaur weren't sure what to say, but then someone walked out of the Pokémon Center, diverting everyone's attention. It was a blue-haired boy that appeared to be in his mid-teens wearing a pink shirt and brown vest.

"Damian!" Charmander yelled excitedly.

Charmander's trainer looked down on him and smirked.

"You remind me of my old Charmander. The gullible idiot's probably still waiting for me to come back to get him, even though I've already replaced him with a whole team of stronger Pokémon." Damian said before starting to walk off.

Charmander felt the whole world melt around him into an endless void of nothing as he heard Damian's words. His trainer had abandoned him. His worst nightmare had come to pass. Charmander was quickly snapped out of his depression and back into the reality around him as Squirtle suddenly hit Damian with a Water Gun.

"Aagh! What was that for?" Damian asked in shock. "You know what, never mind. I'm leaving."

The trainer lifted up a Pokéball, from which a mighty Braviary sprung forth. Damian climbed onto Valiant Pokémon's back and Braviary flew off.

"Well." Bulbasaur said blankly. "Now what?"

* * *

Daisy walked into the Pokémon Center and looked around. She quickly found the person she was waiting for and walked up to a woman wearing a delivery service uniform.

Hello, I'm Teala from Mystery Gift Deliveries." The woman introduced herself. "Can I help you with something?"

"Hi, I'm Daisy Oak. You should have a package for me."

"Oh, yes. It's right here." The woman pulled a sealed envelope from her bag and handed it to Daisy.

"Thank you." Daisy said as she walked away.

Teala continued to wait around in the Pokémon Center for a while, before Gary walked in and approached her.

"You have a package for me." Gary said.

"Do I. What's your name, sir." She asked in response.

"Gary Oak."

The woman reached into her bag and pulled out another envelope, this one much thicker than the one she gave Daisy.

"Here you go, sir."

Gary pulled the envelope from her hand and walked off. "Smell you later!" He said as he gave a sort of half wave back to Teala.

"Interesting." Teala said to herself. "Two Oak's getting similar packages from the same person, who's also an Oak. I wonder what that's about. Oh, well. That was my last delivery here for the day."

* * *

"It's about time you got here." Lt. Surge said as Ash, Carmine and Brock reached the Vermilion Gym. "The S.S. Anne is going to set off in just a few hours. Do you still want four tickets?"

"No." Ash sighed. "We only need three now."

Lt. Surge handed three of the tickets he had to Ash, who took them and was about to leave when suddenly a voice came yelling from over the distance.

"Wait!" A girl was cycling towards the Gym at top speed and made an abrupt stop as she reached them. She was wearing a light blue jacket and denim shorts over a white shirt that, upon further inspection, was actually part of a swimsuit; as well as a blue, triangle-shaped backpack with a single strap that went over one shoulder and under the other. The others almost didn't recognize her at first until she took off her bike helmet to reveal her familiar orange hair.

"Misty!" Ash said excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"To be able to go on a cruise on the S.S. Anne is like a once-in-lifetime opportunity." Misty answered. "There's no way I'm missing this."

"But what about the Gym?" Brock asked.

"I already took care of that. Now, are we going or not?"

"What's with the new outfit? It looks like you're planning on a longer trip than just the S.S. Anne." It was Carmine's turn to ask Misty something.

"I was on what was just supposed to be a weekend fishing trip when we met before, but stuff came up and I missed my ride back home. Since this isn't a fishing trip, I didn't feel like just wearing my old fishing clothes."

"It's good to have you back." Ash said.

"It's good to be back."


	26. Chapter 26

The crowd waiting to get on the S.S. Anne was a big one. Hundreds if not thousands of people were waiting on the dock of Vermilion Harbor where the famous luxury liner was going to set sail from. Red and Yellow were waiting among the crowd for Daisy to meet up with them.

"Hey, guys!" She called out as they came into her view. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's no problem." Red said as Daisy reached them.

"So you managed to get a ticket?" Yellow asked.

"Yeah. I had to call my dad and have him order me one, but I did manage to get it."

The three continued chatting for a bit until they were interrupted by an unexpected group of visitors.

"And here I thought this was supposed to be a private cruise. But I guess this is just open for any old losers to show up."

"Hey, Kat! Good to see you." Daisy ignored her brother's sarcastic remark and greeted her cousin instead.

"Good to see you, too. How's life been for you?"

"Don't just ignore me!" Gary shouted angrily.

"Then maybe you should give us a reason to pay attention to you."

Gary was about to retaliate with an insult towards his sister when suddenly someone ran into them and they both fell to the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're going… Ash?"

Gary looked up at his old friend-turned-rival in surprise.

"I thought I heard your voice." Ash said.

"Wow, I guess the gang's all here." Daisy remarked enthusiastically. "What are the odds?"

"Yes." Carmine grumbled. "It seems almost a bit too coincidental. I feel like at any moment now a certain someone is going to turn up and tell us Team Rocket is here."

"You're intuition serves you well." Everyone was startled by the sudden appearance of Looker. "But the time to speak of our current problem has not yet come. We will discuss things when we get to the privacy of our cabins."

And just like that, Looker disappeared back into the crowd as quickly as he had shown up.

"Who was that?" Red asked.

"Didn't Team Rocket disband years ago?" It was Gary's turn to ask questions now. "Why would they be here?"

"It's a long story." Ash answered. "And it looks like we're all probably going to have to catch each other up on what's been going on later, so we might as well wait until then before we start talking about it."

Just then, the crowd suddenly started moving as the S.S. Anne opened up for passengers to board it. The group went along with the crowd onto the luxurious ship and made their way to their rooms. They were all stationed on the same deck along with Looker and his team as well as a few other people.

* * *

"Come on, Charmander. You need to get up." Bulbasaur tried to nudge the Fire-type onto his feet.

"No." A crying Charmander insisted. "You heard Damian. I'm worthless, I don't deserve to do anything but sit down and wait for the end."

"We all know that's not what he said!" Squirtle yelled at Charmander with ferocity to his speech. "And besides that, he's wrong. You are strong and you have the potential to be far stronger than your former trainer could have ever hoped for you to be. I see what you can become. One day you will be a Charizard, revered by everyone as one of the strongest and most courageous Pokémon of the Kanto region. The humans use your species and your evolutions as a symbol of power and a national icon."

"Really?" Charmander asked in amazement as he finally stopped crying.

"Yes, and I know exactly how we are going to prove that you are better than him."

"How?" Both Charmander and Bulbasaur asked.

"Damian wants to take on the league challenge by earning eight Gym Badges and entering the Pokémon League, right?"

Charmander nodded.

"Then all we have to do is earn eight Badges ourselves and beat him in the League."

The others just started at Squirtle in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Bulbasaur finally asked. "We can't do that. Only humans can enter the league."

"I admit that I haven't figured out all the details of how we'll pull this off yet. But I'm confident that if we work towards this goal, anything will be possible."

* * *

Ash, Brock, Carmine, Misty, Red, Yellow, Daisy, Gary and his cheerleaders all sat around Looker's room along with Looker himself, Lance, 009, Wes and Rui. Having 19 people in a room meant to only have 5 at the most was a very tight fit. They had just finished catching each other up on what had happened to each other since the four trainers had left Pallet Town.

"So, why are you here, anyway?" Ash asked Looker. "Is Team Rocket here?"

"We have heard from a reliable source that several of Team Rocket's highest ranking agents are hidden somewhere on this ship. They are planning to steal all of the Pokémon on the ship before we make land again."

"That's terrible." Daisy said.

"Ja, that's why we need to stop them." Looker continued. "And I would ask that all of you look for suspicious behavior in the other passengers and report anything out of the ordinary to us. Now, I believe that is all that must be discussed for now. You may now leave to do whatever it is you wish to do. If we need to speak to any of you again, we will contact you."

As the trainers and their traveling companions left the room, Red and Yellow approached Carmine.

"There's something I wanted to ask you." Red said.

"What?"

"When we were talking to Bill up at Cerulean Cape, he showed us a video of a news report from when a giant, Black Tyranitar attacked in Johto. The video cut out just as two trainers rushed up to fight it."

"So?"

"The two trainers were you and Mr. Ketchum."

"Wait, what?" Ash was startled to overhear that.

"That was a long time ago." Carmine said. "What did you want to ask?"

"How did the battle go? What happened?"

"We beat it, obviously."

"But how? That thing was huge and extremely powerful. What happened to it after that?"

"That's not really something I feel like talking about right now." Carmine turned to walk away and nearly walked right into Kat.

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear that you're a strong trainer."

"And?"

"Would you mind having a battle with me?"

Carmine put his hand up to his face and sighed.

"Why did I agree to come here." He put his hand back down and looked Kat in the eyes. "Fine. I heard that there are some places to battle up top. Let's get this over with."

* * *

Meanwhile, three decks above, Team Rocket were having a meeting of their own.

"So we've all got our cover stories straight, right?" Attila asked his fellow agents.

"James and I are a married couple enjoying our anniversary. We can't have kids on our own, so we have Meowth as a surrogate. We've also never met any of you before, we just happen to be on the same floor as you." Jessie said.

"And I'm just a normal Meowth, so noes talking or walking around on my hind legs while I'm in public." Meowth added.

"Oakley and I are newlyweds on our honeymoon." Said Hun.

"And we're also on our honeymoon." Annie gestured towards Attila as she spoke. "Oakley and I are sisters like in real life and you two are close friends from childhood, so we all know each other and specifically wanted to have a shared honeymoon."

"And you?" Attila looked towards Hunter J, sitting in the corner of the room stoking the Zorua in her lap as usual. The small fox Pokémon seemed more relaxed than normal, almost like it could feel a familiar presence somewhere on the ship.

"I don't really care. I'm just here to enjoy myself and make sure things don't fall completely to pieces for you."

Attila stared angrily at her.

"What do you care, anyway? I'm not even a part of Team Rocket, I'm just a mercenary. Even if someone notices me, they can't connect it back to you. And make no mistake; I have no intention of being found out."

"Fine. That's good enough, I suppose. Just keep a low profile."

Jessie, James, Meowth left the room together. After waiting a few minutes, Attila and Hun left as well, leaving Annie and Oakley alone with Hunter J.

"So girls," Hunter J said, "I have something I want to talk to you about."


	27. Chapter 27

"So how do you want this?" Carmine asked to the woman that had challenged him to battle. The whole group had moved up to the top deck where several battle fields were drawn out for passengers to fight.

"How about a single battle, six-on-six." Kat suggested.

"No good." Carmine replied. "I don't have six Pokémon on me that I can use here, and I don't want it to take that long. How about a four-on-four double battle?"

"Sounds good." Kat pulled out two of her Pokéballs and held them up. "Let's get this battle started!"

Kat called out her Beedrill and Exeggcutor, while Carmine sent out a Crobat and an Ursaring. Without hesitation, both trainers started calling orders to their Pokémon.

"Beedrill, Focus Energy! Exeggutor, use Egg Bomb on Crobat!"

"Crobat, use Double Team. Ursaring, hit the walking palm tree with a Feint Attack."

Crobat created several illusory copies of itself, while Exeggutor tried pelting it with eggs, but the attack missed and hit the copies instead. During this time, Beedrill was storing up energy for its next attack, while Ursaring faded into nothing, leaving only the yellow ring on its belly visible before rushing up and striking Exeggutor. The Coconut Pokémon found itself, knocked down to the ground and pelted by Crobat's Air Slash attack.

Beedrill stabbed one of its stingers into Ursaring with a Poison Jab that left the Pokémon staggering back and poisoned. Unfortunately for Beedrill, Ursaring's Guts ability made it so that she was now even stronger due to the status condition. The Hibernating Pokémon struck Beedrill with a Slash that send it hurtling towards the ground.

Exeggutor managed to launch another Egg Bomb through Crobat's Air Slash, disrupting the move long enough to get back up and whack the Bat Pokémon with its head in a Hood Hammer attack, knocking it down. Exeggcutor used Hood Hammer on Crobat again while Ursaring hit Beedrill with a Hammer Arm, leaving both Pokémon knocked out.

Carmine and Kat swapped out their fainted Pokémon with a Scizor and Nidoqueen, respectively. Nidoqueen fired a Hyper Beam at Ursaring, who tried to counter with its own Hyper Beam, but was too slow and was knocked out by the attack. Meanwhile, Scizor used Swords Dance to heighten its offensive capabilities and Exeggutor used Trick Room.

As Carmine sent out his final Pokémon, Feraligatr, the entire field was suddenly filled with a maze of feint purple walls that were almost invisible, yet very real. Scizor tried to use Quick Attack on Exeggutor, but instead crashed into one of the walls, opening itself up to be hit by Exeggutor's Wood Hammer. After being hit by the attack, Scizor was able to strike Exeggutor with its own X-Scissor attack, knocking the Coconut Pokémon unconscious.

Kat called in her final Pokémon, the Charizard she had received when she had first started her Pokémon Journey. Charizard was able to pass through the Trick Room maze to enter the battle, but once it was out of its Pokéball, it became trapped inside with the others.

Carmine's Scizor and Feraligatr were able to hit Kat's Nidoqueen with an Iron Head and an Ice Fang while it recovered from the energy loss of its earlier Hyper Beam. Nidoqueen collapsed as Charizard came in and used Flamethrower on Scizor, knocking it out as well.

"It looks like we're both down to only one Pokémon left." Carmine said. "I must admit, you're doing better than I thought you would. Both of our remaining Pokémon are still fresh, but mine has the type advantage, so it's clear who's going to win this."

"Don't be so sure of that." Kat smiled as she spoke. "Charizard! Use Thunder Punch!"

Charizard drew back its fist, which became engulfed in an electrical charge.

"Quick! Ice Punch!" Carmine was almost beginning to panic.

Feraligatr drew back its own fist now, the air around it beginning to freeze. The two Pokémon struck each other at the same time. There was a short pause as the two Pokémon locked eyes, with each other's fists pushing against the other's cheeks. Then, they both hit each other, using the same attacks with their other hands. The two continued to stare at each other for a moment as they stood there, until finally they both collapsed and the Trick Room dissolved around them.

"I guess it's a tie." Kat said flatly as she withdrew her Charizard into its Pokéball. "That doesn't happen often."

"It's been a long time since anyone besides Graham has been able to match up against me." Carmine did the same with his Feraligatr. "A very long time. Either I've gotten rusty or you've got to be the best trainer of your generation. Probably the first option."

* * *

Attila and Hun made their way to the top deck of the S.S. Anne to observe some of the other passengers for reconnaissance. They both casually leaned against the railing overlooking the next deck while facing opposite directions. Hun overlooked the lower deck while Attila watched the deck they were on.

"What do you think is taking our 'brides' so long to get here?" Hun asked his stoic partner, who didn't answer him. Hun turned to look at Attila and noticed that he was staring intently at someone in the crowd on the opposite end of the deck. Hun looked over to see who got his attention and first noticed a familiar hat. "That's the boy from Mt. Moon isn't it?"

"Of course it is." Attila growled.

"This isn't going to be a problem, is it?"

"Why would it. If anything, steeling that son of a Growlithe's Pokémon is going to make this far more enjoyable. I may just keep that Charmander of his for myself just to spite him."

"You're a very vengeful person, Attila. All he did was try to stand up to you. You would have flattened him in an instant if we hadn't been called away."

"Exactly. I should have beaten him there, but I didn't. That's what needs to be fixed."

Before the two could continue their conversation, Annie and Oakley finally arrived. The two were smiling about something as they walked up the stairs to where Attila and Hun were waiting.

"What took you so long?" Hun asked the girls.

"Oh, nothing." Oakley said.

"Anything to report?" Asked Annie.

"Well, there's-" Hun started to say before Attila cut him off.

"Nothing. There's nothing to report yet. Everything's going smoothly so far."

* * *

"What do you want?" Gary asked Ash, who had just walked up to him after the battle between Carmine and Kat.

"I want to see how far we've come since we all started." Ash pointed dramatically at Gary. "And so, I challenge you to a battle!"

"No, thanks." Gary said smugly as he turned away. "I don't really feel like a battle now, maybe tomorrow. It's not like we don't have plenty of time."

"Wait, how long does this cruise last anyway?" Ash wondered aloud.

Gary shot a strange look at Ash. "You really need to pay more attention to these things. Although, I guess you've always been like this, haven't you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll let you figure that out on your own. But yeah, we'll be getting off back in Vermillion in a little over three weeks. Twenty-five days, to be exact."

"Three weeks?" Ash began to panic. "I didn't think this would even last one week! I'm going to fall behind everyone at this rate!"

"Fall behind who?" Gary asked. "We're all on here with you. Or have you picked up some new rivals since you left Pallet that you didn't mention earlier?"

"Oh, right. I guess you are all here. I got carried away for a moment- Ow!" Ash's sentence got cut off as one of the other passengers bumped into him.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry." The woman said. She was a tall woman, who at first appeared to be rather heavyset but on closer inspection that was due to the heavy fur coat she was wearing that obscured her actual body shape. She had long, bushy black hair with red-dyed tips and her eyes were a strikingly light blue. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ash said as he looked up to see the woman. "Are you?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. Something just seems… off about you."

The woman looked down on him with disdain. "How rude. Kids these days have no respect for there elders."

"Sorry, Ma'am. I didn't mean to be rude. You just feel like…" Ash tried to find the right way to described the feeling. "Like you lost something, I guess."

"Ma'am? Do you have any idea who I am? I am…" The woman suddenly lost all of her anger. "You may call me Madame Darhk. As it happens I have lost something very dear to me which I'm currently looking to find. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue my search."

"I hope she finds whatever she's looking for." Ash said as Madame Darhk walked away.

"You've always been good at making friends with strangers."

Ash didn't realize that Gary was still there and gave a huge jump of surprise when his rival spoke up.

"What?" Gary asked.


	28. Chapter 28

Ash entered an elevator and pressed the button for go down to the deck his room was on. After Gary turned down his challenge, he wasn't really sure what to do. He was also learning that having both Pika and Volty rest on his shoulders was tiring and probably not good for his neck. As he waited for the doors to shut, a familiar girl walked in behind him.

"Hey, Misty." Ash greeted the Cerulean Gym Leader. "Where are you headed?"

"I want to find someplace to eat. How about you?"

"I don't really know." Ash shrugged. "I'm not really sure what to do right now."

"Then why don't you come with me?" Suggested Misty. "We can eat together."

Ash hesitated to answer at first, put Pika gestured that he wanted to go eat and Volty hopped off his shoulder over to Misty's.

"Well, I guess if these two want to go, I might as well." Ash chuckled.

The doors closed and Ash and Misty tried to decide what kind of food they were in the mood for. They couldn't really agree on anything before the elevator stopped and the doors opened, so they went to find a map with the various dining facilities available on the ship and their locations. After studying their options carefully, Ash finally pointed to a spot not far from where they were.

"How does this place sound?" He asked Misty.

"As good as anything, I guess. Come on, let's get going."

* * *

The Surfing Snorlax was an outdoor café on the S.S. Anne. Sitting at a small, two-person table were Wes and Rui, who had just finished having an early dinner together and were now discussing their current events.

"So, that 'aura' ability you have. That's what let you identify Shadow Pokémon back when we were going up against Team Cipher, right?" Wes asked his vaguely mysterious partner.

"That's right." Rui Confirmed.

"And you say that your powers are even stronger now…"

"Where are you going with this?" Rui asked her companion.

"So, if your powers are as developed as I understand them to be, then could you just be able to sense who here are members of Team Rocket so that we can go after them right away?"

"I'm afraid I can't. My powers aren't quite to that level yet, and an aura only reflects someone's nature, not necessarily everything that they do."

"Well, it was worth a shot, I guess."

The two sat in silence as they watched Ash and Misty sit down at a table on the other end of the café and order a meal.

"They remind me a little of us." Rui mused.

"A daring trainer and his annoying redheaded companion?"

Rui gave Wes a light punch in the arm in response to his joke.

"Okay, okay. So you're not _that_ annoying. But what do you mean?"

"Well…" Rui began. "I can't really put it into words very well. The ability to see aura is in many ways an extra sense that most people don't have. And like the other senses, it can't really be described to someone with no frame of reference for it."

"Try." Wes urged Rui.

"Well, their auras are a similar frequency to ours. Although there also a bit different."

"What do you mean by frequency?"

"I'd need to start with the basics to really explain it. Every person and Pokémon has an aura. Each individual's aura has a unique pattern to it that only they have, but they can have similar auras to each other. Normally, people who have a similar aura are able to get along really well because that makes it easier for it to connect to each other, and it also allows some humans and Pokémon to bond more easily than others. Take that boy and his Pikachu for example; they both have an almost identical aura and seem to be like the best of friends, even though according to our records they haven't known each other very well."

"So, does that mean I have a similar aura to that Pikachu as well?" Asked Wes.

"Well, no." Rui said. "As I mentioned, it's hard to describe. Auras are primarily marked by a few aspects, the most commonly accepted terms for which are frequency and affinity. Frequency is the unique wavelength which identifies each individual's aura and is unique to that person. Kind of like a fingerprint. You and the boy have similar frequencies, as do I with the girl. An affinity is more like what the aura looks and feels like, and is a bit harder to describe how it works. That boy and his Pikachu have yellow, electrified auras that bond well together, while you're more of a metallic silver aura. That girl's aura is a watery blue, while mine is sort of a wavy light purple."

"So, an aura's affinity basically amounts to a color and an element?" Wes guessed.

"I guess that's one way of putting it. Although it's not quite that simple."

"Of course it isn't."

"I was heavily simplifying my descriptions of them. For example, that girl's aura isn't really just like water. It's really more like a river. But then there are other people have 'water' auras that are more like rain, or an ocean."

"You're right, this is complicated. Why don't we move on to something else?"

"I was thinking we should probably be heading back to check in with Looker." Rui said. "It's getting late and the sun's already setting."

* * *

Red, Yellow and Daisy had decided to call it a day and head back to their rooms, but before they called it a night, Red and Daisy wanted to do some planning for what to do when they got back to Vermilion.

The tickets Bill had given Red and Yellow were for a single room, and Daisy managed to get the next room over, so Red and Daisy decided to swap so that the girls could share a room, the one the three were in now, while Red was on his own next door.

The two trainers sat beside each other on Daisy's bed with a map sprawled out in front of them, while Yellow played with her Magikarp. Maggie was swimming around a large fish tank built into the far side of the room along with Daisy's Poliwag. The two Water-type Pokémon were chasing after Yellow's hand which she was moving along the outside of the glass.

"So when we get back to Vermilion, we should go north up Saffron." Red said.

"But I haven't challenged Surge yet. And what if Saffron City's still closed?" Daisy pointed out.

"Okay, then we'll stay in Vermilion for a day so you can get your next Gym Badge, but there's no way an entire city will be closed off for that long."

"A city shouldn't be closed like that in the first place. What do you think is going on there."

"I don't know." Red shrugged. "Maybe a gas leak or something?"

"Bad things are happening in Saffron." Red and Daisy both looked over at Yellow as she spoke unexpectedly. "We won't be able to go there anytime soon. Not that we should try."

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked the younger girl.

"I don't know exactly. It's just a feeling." Yellow then turned back to continue playing with Maggie and Poliwag.

"I guess we'll head east to Lavender Town then." Red said, still looking uneasily at Yellow. "Then we can go south and make our way around to Fuchsia, maybe see if we can take a ship over to some of the islands down there."

"I guess that sounds like a plan." Daisy said. "See you in the morning then."

Red left the girls' room to head to his own. As he walked to his room, he felt like he was being watched. He turned around to see what it was and got a glimpse of movement at the far end of the hallway.

"Probably nothing." Red tried to reassure himself. "Just another passenger heading off to call it a night."

Despite that, he still felt uneasy as he opened the door and entered his room. Even as he got ready for bed, something was nagging at him from the back of his mind. He knew that Team Rocket were aboard the ship, but could the two members he encountered back in Mt. Moon be among them?


	29. Chapter 29

Looker gazed towards the sunrise as dawn arrived on the first full day of the S.S. Anne. As he watched the sun slowly make its way into the sky, Looker pondered over what had brought him to this moment. Several high ranking agents of Team Rocket were somewhere aboard the ship, planning to kidnap every Pokémon aboard. All because the International Police had not properly taken care of the old Team Rocket five years ago, allowing them to reform now.

Looker had been a part of the team sent in to take down Team Rocket. It was his first mission as an agent for the International Police and he had been serving under his mentor, Agent Adonis, who had taken Looker under his wing ever since he first joined the International Police.

Looker turned around to face some of the other passengers walking by, on their way to either take in the view or find a good spot to get breakfast. Among the group, Looker spotted the trainer known as Red and the young girl known as Yellow. According to what they said yesterday, and confirmed by Misty, Yellow had apparently been fished up from a stream with no memories and wasn't even sure if that was her real name. Looker felt he could relate to the girl's plight. After all, he had been in similar circumstances once, years ago.

As the crowd moved, Looker spotted Lance talking to a tall, red-haired woman and decided to walk up to them. As he approached the two, Lance noticed him and called Looker over.

"Hey, Looker, good timing. I wanted to introduce you to Lorelei here."

"So, you're Looker." The woman said. "Lance was just filling me in about you and this whole 'Team Rocket' thing going on."

"Was he now?" Looker gave Lance an aside glare.

"It's alright." Lance tried to reassure him. "You can trust her; she's one of my fellow Elite Four members."

"The Elite Four." Looker mumbled. "I have heard that term before, but what does it mean?"

"The Elite Four once served as the last challenges a trainer had to face before they could take on the League Champion." Lance started to explain.

"But when the Pokémon League switched over to the current tournament system, we were repurposed as Gym Leaders." Lorelei continued his explanation. "But we retained our old titles and we serve as leadership council of sorts within the League. We facilitate the various meetings with the League as well as make important decisions such as opening new Gyms. The status also offers other perks, such as being privy to the goings-on within the region and helping to stop potential threats such as the one we're facing now."

"Hm." Looker closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "I suppose that would make sense as to why Lance would let you in on this. I'll let you do whatever you want to help. Although I would appreciate it, Lance, if you would let me know before you bring others into our inner circle."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I do want to let the other two Elite Four members in on this, just to give you a heads up on that."

"Fine."

"By the way…" Lance started to say. "I wanted to ask you something. When you first got here, it seemed like you had some kind of an accent and your speech was a bit off, but you don't seem to have it anymore."

"Da." Looker nodded again. "This is not my native tongue and it took me a while to readjust to speaking this language. Now that I've had some time, the lessons I've learned about how to speak it properly have returned to me."

Lorelei cleared her throat to draw the others' attention back to her. "So, Lance told me that you've been letting civilians into this little operation of yours."

"Da, er, yes. Several trainers have gotten involved in skirmishes with Team Rocket, and I felt it only fair that they know what is going on. There are also two other Gym Leaders among them."

"Yeah, that's what Lance told me. Misty and Brock, right? Those two sure are interesting."

"What do you mean?" Looker asked.

"Those two are both the youngest Gym Leaders in the region right now, and yet they're able to keep up with the others perfectly. Within a few years, they'll probably be on par with us in the Elite Four. Of course, Misty owes the majority of her success to being my protégé. I've taught her almost everything she knows. I've also heard that Bruno trained Brock as well. Those two will probably end up succeeding us when we eventually retire."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"I thought you wanted to know?"

"No." Looker shook his head. "I have little interest in the inner workings of the Pokémon League. My primary concern is Team Rocket." He paused for a moment, then added, "And if we are to continue this conversation, we should do so in private."

"Suit yourself." Lorelei shrugged as the three walked back to the room Looker had made into a makeshift base on the ship.

* * *

Daisy was hurriedly walking through the hallway to an elevator. Red and Yellow had already gone ahead to get breakfast, and she wanted to catch up to them. As she turned the corner, she was stopped by an elderly man with a thick mustache, wearing a dark blue suit and matching bowler hat.

"Excuse me." The man sounded rather desperate. Like he was trying his hardest not to panic. "I need your help. My granddaughter has gone missing and I can't find her anywhere."

"I'll help in any way I can." Daisy said without any hesitation.

"Thank you so much." The man said gratefully. "She slipped away from me because she wanted to play, but my old legs just can't go as fast as they used to. If she managed to make her way to the elevator, she could be just about anywhere on the ship by this point."

"Have you tried asking someone to put out an alert or something to get a search going?" Daisy asked helpfully.

"I haven't seen anyone else since I lost her. I had just finished searching this floor when I ran into you."

Daisy started to walk towards the elevator behind the man and gestured for him to follow her. "Then let's go see the captain. If anyone can help you find your granddaughter, it would be him. He should be able to call an alert or something to get the crew searching."

"Yes." The man said. "That sounds like a good idea. The best idea, really. Thank Arceus you arrived when you did, I was just about to lose hope in being able to find her if she's lost on a huge ship like this. Now, let's get going."

* * *

Jessie and James were at the Surfing Snorlax, sitting at a table overlooking the lower deck so that they could observe the people down below. Meowth was curled up beneath the table and pretending to take a nap.

"So, when are we actually going to get started?" James asked quietly.

"Start what?" Jessie responded.

"The mission." Was James' answer. "Just sitting around like this isn't going to do anything."

"Attila said that we needed to do a lot of reconnaissance to see what it is we actually need to do. It will probably only be a few days. Why are you asking?"

A waiter walked over and handed the pair the drinks they had ordered when they first got there a few minutes ago.

"I'm not sure." James took a sip of his warm beverage. "I just can't help shake this uneasy feeling, like something's about to happen. What happens if we fail the mission? What will-"

Before James could blurt out any sensitive information, Meowth reached over and scratched at his ankle, pretending to stretch. James bit back a yelp and kept his mouth shut for the remainder of their stay at the café, except to continue drinking. After they had finished their drink's Jessie and James got up and left, with Meowth trailing behind them. The feline Pokémon was having trouble walking on all four of his legs like a normal Meowth would, because he had grown so used to walking on only his hind legs like a human. It had taken him years to learn how to walk like that, and reverting to his natural stance after so long felt wrong to him.


	30. Chapter 30

Ash made his way to the battling area on the top decks of the S.S. Anne. Gary may have turned down his challenge yesterday, but Ash was determined to get a battle. As he climbed up the stairs, he looked around to find someone that looked like they could offer him a good fight. To Ash's surprise, the 'battle deck' as it was known, was almost completely empty. There was a battle going on at the far end, with a few spectators watching, and a few people looking at the ocean view over the railings, but they didn't seem like trainers. Ash turned around in disappointment, but then saw Red coming up the staircase behind him.

"Hey, Ash!" Red called up to him. "You looking for a good training match too?"

"Yeah." Ash answered. "But there's no one here."

"Then I guess we'll just have to fight each other." Red said as he caught up to Ash at the top of the stairs.

"You're on! Let's do this!"

"Alright, then let's get ready."

* * *

After Red and Yellow finally gave up on waiting for Daisy to join them for breakfast like they had planned, Red decided to go up to get some practice in for Pokémon battling. Yellow wasn't really interested in watching him fight right now though, so Red dropped her off at her room so that she could play with her Pokémon, Maggie and Abraham.

Yellow was currently trying to teach Maggie how to do some tricks but to no avail. Meanwhile, Abraham sat in the corner of the room, fast asleep in the chair that Red had been sitting in last night.

"Come on, do it like this." Yellow straightened out her arms and legs while lying on her bed and rolled across it. "Now it's your turn."

Maggie tilted to one side and then the other before straightening back up again.

"No, Maggie. I want you to roll over." Yellow complained as she sat back up. "It's really easy to- whoa!"

Yellow practically fell off the bed as Abraham suddenly appeared next to her. The Abra held up his right hand, which began to glow purple. Maggie became enveloped in a similar glow and was spun around the way Yellow was trying to get her to roll over before the glow vanished from both Pokémon and Abraham Teleported back to the chair in the corner of the room.

"See, Maggie!" Yellow told the Fish Pokémon. "If Abraham can figure out how to make you do it in his sleep, then you should be able to do it easily.

Maggie tried to roll over again, but again, only swayed to one side and back up again.

"Seriously, Maggie, this should be so simple."

* * *

Ash and Red stared each other down from opposite ends of the field drawn onto the battle deck's floor. Between the two trainers, their Pokémon faced each other as well.

"Sandshrew!" Ash called out. "Use Poison Sting!"

Sandshrew rushed at its opponent and jabbed it in the face with his claw, inflicting the opposing Pokémon with Poison.

"Paras!" Red called out to his own Pokémon. "Counter that with Poison Powder!"

Paras sent out a wave of the poisonous powder from the mushroom on its back and inflicted Sandshrew with the status condition as well. With both Pokémon now poisoned, Sandshrew jumped back and swung one of its claws in front of itself, sending out white star-shaped projectiles. Paras tried to dodge, but the Swift attack turned around in midair to hit it. Not letting its opponent get a hit in, Sandshrew ran up close and clawed wildly at his opponent with Fury Swipes.

"Paras! Fury Cutter!"

The Bug-type struck Sandshrew with its claw. Sandshrew used Defense Curl to brace itself for the next hit, and Paras used Fury Cutter again.

"This is your chance Sandshrew!" Ash cheered his Pokémon on. "You know what to do next!"

The Mouse Pokémon spun forward in a Rollout attack and ran into Paras. Paras turned to face its opponent again, but Sandshrew curved back around and ran into Paras a second time. Paras tried to use Absorb to weaken Sandshrew, but it was no use as Sandshrew struck Paras again, this time knocking it out.

"Good match." Red said as he returned his fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to win with a type disadvantage."

"Well, I guess I've just improved a lot. I guess I have Carmine to thank for that since he's the one who actually got me to start training for this kind of thing."

"Yeah, traveling with an experienced trainer does give you kind of an advantage. Not to mention two Gym Leaders. I have to make do by figuring things out on my own."

"I kind of feel bad about it."

"Don't." Red reassured Ash. "It's your duty as a Pokémon Trainer to use every resource at your disposal. That includes the help of those with more experience than yourself."

The two friends walked up to each other and shook hands. After a long silence, Red finally spoke up.

"By the way, you haven't heard anything from back home recently, have you?"

"No, why?"

"I just haven't checked back in since I left. I'm starting to wonder if there's anything going on back home."

"Well, I haven't called my mom or anything, either. In fact, she's probably getting worried about me."

* * *

Daisy and the older man she was helping approached the entrance leading to the Captain's quarters. No one was outside, so Daisy knocked on the door as she walked up to it and a voice came from inside telling them to come in. Daisy opened the door and the two stepped inside the room.

Daisy was caught off guard by how sparse the room seemed. Aside from a large bookshelf in the far corner from the door and a desk directly across from when she was now standing, there was barely anything in it besides a couple chairs and some sea charts and pictures hung up along the walls. The captain sat at his desk, looking over some papers.

"Can I help you with something?" The captain asked as he looked up at the two walking in.

"Yes, I have a problem." The old man said. "My granddaughter ran off and now I can't find her anywhere."

"Well, that is good timing. You see, I was just about to make an announcement that a girl had just been found. I would assume she's your missing granddaughter." The captain pointed over to the wall opposite him, where a young girl was napping in a chair. "She wandered over here and promptly fell asleep before she could tell me where she came from."

"That's my granddaughter alright." The old man said with a sigh of relief as he walked over to pick the girl up. "She's always so energetic that she tends to wear herself out quickly. Thank you, both."

The man nodded before walking back out of the room, leaving Daisy alone with the captain.

"And what about you?" The captain asked her.

"Oh, nothing. I was just trying to help him find his granddaughter." Daisy responded. "Thanks for helping him out, I guess I'll be going now."

"Hold on a moment." The captain said as she turned around to leave. "You are a Pokémon trainer, are you not?"

"Yes." Daisy said hesitantly. She still hadn't quite figured out how people always seemed to tell that right away, just from a glance.

"You wouldn't happen to be interested in teaching one of your Pokémon how to cut down trees, would you?"

"I've never even thought about that." Daisy answered honestly. "Why?"

"I may not look it now, but back in my day I was known as the "Cut Master". I was renowned for my ability to train Pokémon how to use the move Cut to chop down trees, whether it be to make logging easier or ever just to clear a path blocked by overgrown foliage. If you want, I can teach your Pokémon how to use the move Cut. It's the least I could do."

"I guess I don't really see why not." Daisy shrugged. "It could come in handy, I guess. Bulbasaur could probably learn it."

"Great!" The captain exclaimed as he stood up from his chair. "I've been wanting an excuse to start training Pokémon again for quite some time now. So let's get started."


	31. Chapter 31

One week has passed since the S.S. Anne set off from the Vermilion Harbor. Ash made his way up to the battle deck at the top of the ship to have a training battle with Red, which had become part of their daily routine. Ash was met with a surprise however, as it was not Red that was waiting for him. Gary stood at the top of the staircase, standing alone with his arms crossed and looking rather impatient.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked his rival.

"I was bored. I figured I could liven things up a little by fighting a strong opponent, but I guess you'll have to do instead."

"Hey!" Ash yelled in indignation.

"And here I thought you'd be happy that I'm finally taking you up on your challenge." Gary shrugged while giving a sly smile. "But if you don't want to fight, I guess I can just try to find someone else that's willing to."

"No!" Ash waved his arm in front of him in a useless gesture in an attempt at adding emphasis "I'll fight you and I'll beat you."

"Okay then," Gary shrugged again. "But don't complain when I wipe the floor with you. Now, let's get started so you won't have to wait as long for your inevitable defeat."

* * *

Carmine sat in a folding chair sitting near the S.S. Anne's pool, looking around at the crowd around it. He spotted a couple of women sitting across from him that seemed oddly familiar. One was a blonde in a pink and black swimsuit, while the other had silver hair and a purple and black swimsuit. Carmine was sure that he had seen those two before, but where? And when?

"So what made you join Team Rocket?" Carmine nearly jumped out of his chair out of shock at Brock's sudden appearance, his thought process of trying to figure out who those two girls were being cut off.

"You're just determined to find out more about me, aren't you?" Carmine replied, rather annoyed. "Are you trying to become a detective or something?"

"No, actually I want to be a Pokémon breeder. Or maybe a doctor, I'm not quite sure yet."

"Then why don't you just leave me alone then?"

"Your life just seems really interesting. I want to hear more of your story."

"Well, if it will get you to stop pestering me, then I will tell you something." Carmine relented. "My joining Team Rocket had to do with my sister. There, no stop asking me annoying questions and go do something else."

Carmine didn't need to tell Brock twice; as the Gym Leader had just noticed the two women that Carmine had been watching. Without a word to Carmine, Brock was off to flirt with the two.

Carmine just sighed and shook his head while muttering to himself. "Things weren't too bad when it was just me and Ash. Or would that be Ash and I? Anyway, he may have been a little incompetent starting out, but the kid's a fast learned like his father. But now that those two Gym Leaders are here, this is getting almost unbearable."

Carmine paused for a moment, a revelation coming to him.

"Wait a minute, the kid doesn't even still need me. He's got two Gym Leaders to watch him now to watch him. That's it, chance I'm calling Delia and seeing if I can Weedle my way out this this so I can just go home."

Carmine pulled his PokéGear out of his pocket, but stopped as he was about to dial Delia Ketchum's number. "Then again, with Team Rocket back it will be really dangerous for them. And who knows how strong this new iteration is in comparison. Those two with the talking Meowth that I fought back in Viridian were weak enough not to be a threat, but that girl in the mask we ran into in Mt. Moon was much stronger. And Looker said they have Shadow Pokémon now. I didn't really pay much attention to that stuff that was happening in Orre last year, but I know those are supposed to be dangerous." Carmine put the PokéGear back into his pocket. "I might need to stick around just in case."

* * *

"Fearow! Use Peck!" Ash ordered his Pokémon as the battle started. The giant bird hit his opponent with its beak, sending the other Pokémon back.

"Don't just take that, Nidorino!" Gary yelled. "Give him a Peck of your own!"

The purple Poison-type charged head-first at Fearow and jabbed the Beak Pokémon with its horn. Fearow struck back with a barrage of Fury Attack. Unfortunately for Fearow, it accidentally graved itself against one of Nidorino's spines and poisoned itself in the process. Nidorino flipped around and hit Fearow with a Double Kick, though the Fighting attack didn't do much against the Flying-type Pokémon.

"I think it's time to use that move Carmine taught you." Ash said to his Fearow. "Fly!"

The Beak Pokémon flew up out of Nidorino's reach, dodging a Horn Attack in the process, and then dive-bombed the Poison-type, sending Nidorino reeling back from the powerful hit.

"You're not done yet, Nidorino! Use Horn Attack!"

Nidorino charged at Fearow, which wasn't easy as he could barely keep himself upright due to fatigue. The attack hit and Fearow was knocked down from the blow. The bird Pokémon was too weak to lift itself back up into the air again, so instead used Mirror Move. The air in front of Fearow solidified into a mirror, from which a phantom image of Gary's Nidorino charged out and struck its doppelgänger with the same Horn Attack that he had just used on Fearow. Both the mirror and the phantom Nidorino evaporated back into air while the real Nidorino collapsed onto the ground and fainted.

Gary stared at the battle with his jaw hanging slightly ajar. "How did…" He mumbled. "How did you beat me?" Suddenly he was yelling. "There's no way a loser like you could be defeat me! You must have cheated somehow!"

"I didn't cheat." Ash defended himself. "I beat you fair and square. Er, I should say _we_ beat you. I can't take all the credit for myself." Ash petted his Fearow before returning him back to his Pokéball.

"I still don't believe this." Gary went on. "We will have a rematch some day and I will correct this mistake! Ash Ketchum, be on guard because the next time we fight I will wipe the floor with you!"

Gary called his Nidorino back into its Pokéball and turned to leave. After taking a few steps, he turned back again for a moment, "Smell you later, loser!" then stormed off.

Ash watched as Gary left, angry at being accused of cheating, but then it slowly donned on him and Ash's frown turned into a giant smile of pure joy. "I! BEAT! GARY!" Ash jumped up and raised his fist into the air, nearly knocking Pika and Volty off of his shoulders. "Oh, sorry guys. I forgot you were there for a moment. Can you believe that I just beat Gary? And in our first Pokémon battle, even?"

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pika said excitedly as he leapt down to the ground in front of Ash, turning around to face him.

Volty used Quick Attack to run over next to Pika in a flash. "Pikapi-Pi!"

* * *

Hunter J had grown tired of waiting around in her room. So shortly after the Team Rocket agents she was supposed to be babysitting left for their 'daily reconnaissance' she left and took a walk around the ship.

"What do those fools even need any more reconnaissance for?" Hunter j thought to herself. "If I was in charge here we would have taken the entire ship, taken my pick of the rare Pokémon here with buyers lined up for the others and she would even be holding some of the passengers for ransom."

She turned a corner and immediately stepped back behind it. She pressed a button on the Snag machine on her left arm, activating one of the many enhancements she had added to it. A small bug-like drone only about an inch tall flew out from the machine and flew around the corner. On Hunter J's visor, a screen popped up showing the video feed from the drone's camera.

"What's he doing here?" Hunter J thought as she walked back the way she came, keeping an eye on the video to make sure that the man she saw hadn't seen her. "What are the odds that the one person who could actually blow my cover happens to be here, on the opposite side of the planet of where he's supposed to be right now?" She gave a sort of grimacing half smile from her mixed emotions from this revelation.

"I suppose even if it's under poor circumstances, it is nice to see you're doing alright." She muttered to herself. "Wes."


	32. Chapter 32

Ash, Misty, Red, Daisy and Yellow all sat around is Daisy and Yellow's room. On Daisy's side of the room, she and Red were sitting on her bed. On Yellow's side of the room, she and Misty were sitting. Between them was Ash, who had pulled up the chair and was sitting in it backwards, with his chin leaning up against the headrest.

"What should we do now?" Daisy asked the rest of the group.

"I don't know." Ash answered. "There's so much to do here, and yet half the time it feels like there's nothing to do."

"Let's play a game!" Yellow suggested cheerfully.

"Like what?" Misty asked her.

"How about Hide and Seek?"

"We've haven't played that." Red pointed out. "How would you even know how to play?"

Yellow shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like I used to play it a lot before…" She trailed off for a moment. "I know that I like it and I'm sure that I'm good at it."

"We'll," Ash said. "I guess that's good enough for me."

* * *

"When are you finally going to move on with your plans?" Hunter J asked to the agents of Team Rocket when they all met up for the evening.

"When we're ready." Attila answered her. "Why do you suddenly care?"

"No reason." Hunter J replied, almost too quickly. "I'm just getting bored. It seems like you already have all the information you should need for this, and yet you just keep observing rather than acting."

"She has a point." James said. "We already know who all of the strong trainers are and what Pokémon they have, as well as what rare Pokémon are here to take."

"I know that." Attila responded. "But what we need is the right time to strike."

"What about tomorrow night?" It was Annie's turn to speak. "There's that big fire dancing show being held outside. From what we've been able to gather, almost everyone's going to be attending it. It seems like the perfect opportunity to set our trap. And then the commotion should lure out the few people not watching the show so that we can get them to."

"That does sound like a plan." Attila put his hand to his chin in thought. "How does everyone else feel about that?"

Jessie, James, Meowth, Hun and Oakley all nodded and voiced their approval.

"Then we're all agreed to set our trap at tomorrow's fire dancing ceremony." Attila turned to Hunter J. "Does that satisfy you?"

Hunter J just gave a sly smile and leaned back in her chair. "I'm never satisfied."

* * *

Ash had been chosen as the first to be 'it' in hide and seek, and had already found Misty trying to hide behind a large potted plant just down the hall from where they stared. The group had decided to stick within the hallways and staircases three levels of Daisy and Yellow's room. Ash and Misty were searching the lowest of the levels for the others. They turned a corner in the hallway and were surprised to find someone else lurking about at the opposite end.

"I've seen her before." Ash whispered to Misty, not wanting to draw the other person's attention. "She said her name was… Madame Darhk, I think it was."

"What's she doing?" Misty asked as she pulled Ash back around the corner.

"She said before that she was looking for something. Maybe she's still trying to find it?"

The two peered around the corner.

"Is she… sniffing the air?" Misty wondered aloud.

"Yeah." Ash confirmed. "She's sniffing around the walls like she's tracking something be scent."

"That's not normal behavior is it? I mean, I know rich people can be eccentric, but still."

Suddenly, Madame Darhk snapped her attention towards their direction. Ash and Misty hid behind the corner.

"Do you think she noticed us?" Ash asked.

"I don't know. But, did it seem like her eyes were glowing to you?"

'Let's just get out of here."

Ash and Misty ran back down the hallway and up the staircase to the next floor up before they finally stopped to catch her breath.

"I don't understand." Ash said between huge breaths. "She seemed perfectly normal before, although with a bit of a temper. But down there she seemed so, so…"

"Bestial?" Misty suggested.

"Yeah. Like she wasn't even human."

The two looked at each other.

"Let's just try and get back to finding the others and pretend this never happened." Misty suggested.

"Agreed."

* * *

Gary stared out across the ocean, leaning against the guard rail of one of the S.S. Anne's observation decks.

"What happened?" He asked himself. "How could I let Ash beet me? I've always been the best, ever since we were kids. I mean, sure, Red's always been pretty close to my level and I've always let Daisy take the lead on our group stuff because she's the oldest, even if it's only by a few minutes. But Ash…"

Gary tried his best not to start crying, but the tears came anyway.

"I've always been better than Ash at everything we've done. Why was he able to beat me now? I've got to be the best and yet… and yet I lost our first battle. What does this mean for the future? Have I not been training hard enough? Have I let Ash reach, or even pass, my level? What the Distortion World is going on?"

Gary tightened his grip on the railing and he looked up at the clear blue sky above the ocean's waves.

"No, I won't let this happen." He told himself. "From now on I'll put in twice the effort, twice the work. By the time we reach the Pokémon League I'll be so far beyond Ash's level that he'll never be able to catch up to me again."

In the distance, Gary thought he could make out the form of a large, silver bird-like Pokémon rise from the ocean and dive back in. The young trainer smiled at the beautiful sight of the majestic Pokémon and took it as a sign.

"I will defeat all in my way to becoming the Pokémon Champion, and from there work my way up even higher until I have become a Pokémon Master!" Gary shouted off across the ocean. "I will achieve my goals, or my name isn't Gary Bluesea Oak!"

* * *

Ash and Misty had now successfully found both Red and Daisy, but didn't tell either of them about their earlier encounter.

"Wow, she wasn't kidding." Daisy said in astonishment. "Yellow really is good at this."

"We've searched the entire area and still haven't found her." Red added.

Ash and Misty both looked nervously at each other while the other two weren't looking.

"Well," Ash started to say, "I guess we could try looking at the lowest floor again."

Misty shook her head.

"We may have overlooked somewhere down there."

She shook her head even harder.

"And with all four of us, we're bound to find her if she's down there."

Misty was starting to get dizzy from shaking her head when Red and Daisy turned around to face her and she stopped.

"Sounds good." Red said.

The four made their way down to the lowest floor within their game's boundaries and, much to Ash and Misty's collective relief, Madame Darhk wasn't there. The group made their way to the opposite end of the hallway from the staircase they used to get down there when they finally found Yellow hiding behind a large trashcan.

"It's about time." Yellow said. "I was starting to think you forgot about me."

"How could we forget about you?" Red asked.

"Well, it's been a while and none of you had even been down here until now."

Red and Daisy looked over at Ash and Misty.

"I thought you said you looked down here before you found either of us." Daisy said.

"We did…" Ash started to say.

"I guess we just didn't look over at this part of the hallway." Misty interrupted. "We didn't think anyone would actually be on this floor, so we didn't look as thoroughly as we should have. Isn't that right, Ash?" She shot him a strange look.

"Y-yeah…"

The other three looked at them inquisitively, but when the two didn't say anything else, Yellow spoke instead.

"I guess this means I'm it now. I'll count to ten and you go hide."


	33. Chapter 33

Almost all of the S.S. Anne's passengers gathered around the upper decks just before sunset as a group of fire dancers and their Marowak were preparing for their performance.

"What's up with those Marowak?" Ash asked Carmine, as their group sat down in their seats, near the center of the crowd.

Carmine looked closely at the Bone Keeper Pokémon and saw what Ash was talking about. They were much darker in color than the Marowak native to Kanto, with slimmer bodies and dark markings on their skulls. In addition, they carried longer bones than normal, with ghostly teal flames at each end.

"I'm not sure." Carmine answered honestly. "I've heard that some Pokémon look different depending on where there from. Maybe that's it?"

"According to the brochure, the fire dancers come from the Alola region." Explained Brock. "Apparently the area is famous for having a lot of unique Pokémon like Marowak."

"That's interesting." Said Misty. "I wonder what other Pokémon are different there."

Someone sitting next to the group shushed them as the show began and the performers began their dance.

* * *

Attila and Hun overlooked the crowd watching the fire dancers from a higher deck. As the performance seemed to reach its climax, Attila raised a radio and spoke into it.

"It's time."

As the two watched, remote detonated smoke bombs began going off throughout the crowd. Panic and confusion spread among the people from the sudden smoke, which granted the perfect opportunity for the other members of Team Rocket to start steeling Pokémon in the chaos. Attila and Hun moved towards the stairs to join them in the thievery, when they were stopped by Looker and Lance.

"Where do you think you're going?" Looker asked them.

"So you must be some of the International Police agents here to stop us." Attila calming said to them. "Well, I guess that's too bad for you, because you're already too late."

Hun threw a smoke bomb onto the ground between the Team Rocket agents and the International Police. As the smoke cleared, Attila and Hun were gone.

"How'd they do that?" Lance wondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter." Looker said as he turned to go back down to where the crowd was. "We need to help down below."

The two ran back down, and passing them going the other way were Red, Daisy and Yellow. The trio was trying to escape the chaos going on below as people moved around in panic. Unfortunately, as the two reached the upper deck, they discovered that Attila and Hun hadn't fled very far.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" Attila said as the two walked back into the open. "If it isn't that brat from Mount Moon, and his little friend. And look, he's got another friend with him."

"I'm afraid that you have a bit of a problem." Said Hun as the kids stopped running. "You see, you managed to get away from my friend here without paying the proper price for getting in our way. And you see, he really doesn't like it when that happens. So I'm afraid any plans you had for the future are going to have to be cut short. Permanently."

Red motioned for the girls to get behind him. Yellow did so, but Daisy stayed firm by his side.

"I don't know who you are!" She shouted to the Team Rocket duo. "But you're dead wrong if you think you can beat us!"

Laughing at her remark, Attila called out his Skarmory. "So you need your girlfriend to stand up for you now?" He mockingly asked Red. "How about we have a little fight, punk, just you and me."

Red pulled a Pokéball up from his waist, but stopped from calling out his Pokémon as Yellow squeezed tightly around his arm.

"Don't do this." She told him. "It's a trap. Let's just have Abraham get us out of here."

"She has a point." Daisy agreed. "Despite by bluff, I don't think we can take these guys on."

Red shook his head and took a step forward, raising the Pokéball in front of him. "If I don't fight him now, he's just going to find us again, and again. Plus, we need to help protect those down below from having their Pokémon stolen. It's our duty as Trainers to protect those in need. Now, go Charmeleon!"

He threw the Pokéball and his starter Pokémon landed on the ground in front of him.

"Hm." Attila grunted. "So you've gotten stronger since Mount Moon. I guess that's not really a surprise, but it will make this more interesting just the same. Skarmory! Pulverize that overgrown lizard with Steel Wing!"

Skarmory flew up and dove down towards Charmeleon, its wings glowing in white light that seemed to make its feathers expand in length. Charmeleon countered by breathing an Ember at the Armor Bird Pokémon. The attack hit Skarmory directly in the face, forcing the bird to stop its attack. Charmeleon followed up the attack with another Ember, this one hitting Skarmory in the chest. Skarmory let out a Metal Sound to disorient Charmeleon and lower its defense, to which Charmeleon responded with another Ember. Skarmory sent out a volley of Swift. The white star-like energy projectiles twisted their trajectory to avoid the Ember attacks that Charmeleon used to try and stop the Swift, and struck him down. Some of the Embers struck Skarmory and forced it down to the ground. This allowed Charmeleon to launch another Ember at the Steel-type, causing Skarmory to collapse.

"What?" Attila muttered in shock before regaining his composure. "Why you little-"

"Attila!" Hun called out to his partner. Attila tried to turn to see what the other was calling him for, only realize that ice was slowly crawling up his legs and freezing him in place.

"What the?"

"I hope you weren't planning on hurting those kids." Lorelei said as she walked up to them alongside her Jynx. She then turned to Red and the others. "If you're going to flee, then do so now. Otherwise I suggest you go back now and help the others."

* * *

Hunter J smirked as she watched the panic going on outside via her drone's camera. It was definitely a much less tactical approach than she would have gone with, but it looked like they were getting the job done all the same. She stood up and walked towards the door so that she could join the others in steeling Pokémon, because after all, she wasn't going to let them have _all_ the fun. But when she opened the door, Hunter J was greeted by an unexpected visitor standing there.

"You!" Madame Darhk almost literally growled at Hunter J.

"Do I know you?" Hunter J asked as she down towards the various Pokéballs hung around her belt.

"YOU TOOK MY SON!" Madame Darhk shrieked in reply. "GIVE HIM BACK!"

Madame Darhk lunged at Hunter J, only to be repelled by the Ariados that the Pokémon Hunter had just released from its Net Ball.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Hunter J said in a relaxed voice, as if this were not an unusual occurrence. "I only take humans if I intend to hold them for ransom, and I'm not currently holding anybody. So, unless you're a Poké- wait a minute."

Hunter J pressed a button on the side of her visor to activate its Aura Vision mode and then began to laugh.

"Okay then. I guess I do remember you. It was three years ago now, if I remember correctly, in the Lostlorn Forest of Unova." She held up a Premier Ball in a taunting fashion. "I'm afraid your little pup here has become one of the prized jewels of my collection, so to speak. I don't intent on giving him up anytime soon, Zaroark. Although I must saw, your human is impeccable for a Pokémon. I think the only other I've heard speak as well is that Meowth with Team Rocket. Of course, I plan on taking him from them as well when I get the chance."

"You're a monster." Madame Darhk seemed to slowly melt away into her true form, the Illusion Fox Pokémon. "Now give me back my son!"

Zoroark knocked Ariados away with a Night Slash, but the Long Leg Pokémon landed feet first onto the wall and was able to strike back with a Night Shade.

"Must I repeat myself?" Hunter J said. "Your Zorua is mine now, and I'm not giving him back to you."


	34. Chapter 34

The Zoroark that had formerly been Madame Darhk glared intently at Hunter J.

"I said GIVE ME BACK MY SON!" She howled. "I wasn't giving you a choice!"

The Dark-type Pokémon jumped out of the way of a String Shot from Hunter J's Ariados and raised her arms above her head. Her eyes began to glow brightly as a dark aura surrounded her. Zoroark then launched the dark aura at Ariados in a Night Daze attack. Ariados tried to strike back with Fell Stinger, but Zoroark disappeared for a moment only to appear right next to the Bug-type and hit it with a Feint Attack, knocking Ariados away. Zoroark followed up the attack with a barrage of Feint Attacks until Ariados fainted and collapsed onto the ground.

In a fury, Zoroark turned back to Hunter J, only to find that she had fled during the fight. Turning to face the Ariados again revealed that it too was gone. Zoroark lifted her head back and gave an anguished cry. Her son's captor had evaded her, and her chances of reuniting with him suddenly felt lost. Regardless, she ran down the hallway, making a mad dash on all four legs, in the desperate hope of finding her son again.

* * *

Ash, Misty, Carmine and Brock huddled together trying not to get in the way of people running around in the confusion created by the smoke. But then suddenly the smoke was cleared away in a sudden gust of wind. The four looked over to see where the wind had come from to see a Honchkrow flying in the air. The Big Boss Pokémon then flew down and perched on the outstretched arm of an distinguished looking old man with a thick gray mustache and wearing a tan colored three-piece suit and bowler hat.

"That ought to do the trick." The man said as the people around started to calm down. "Although, I'm curious as to where that smoke came from in the first place."

With the smoke cleared, Ash turned to face the others just in time to see a woman reaching for the Pokéballs around Carmine's belt. He was just about to warn Carmine, Sneasel came out of its Pokéball and slashed her across her face as Carmine reached down and grabbed her by the wrist.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He looked down at the woman and recognition donned on him. "Wait a minute, I know you."

"No you don't." The woman said as she tried to pull away while holding her cut cheek, which was starting to bleed lightly.

"Yes I do. I saw you and your sister before but couldn't quite place you. But now that I see you up close I know exactly where I know you from. Your name's Oakley right. You joined Team Rocket with your sister right before I left. I helped you two in your recruitment training.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Oakley insisted as she managed to slip her wrist out of Carmine's grasp. "I was just reaching down to grab something I dropped and then your Pokémon attacked me out of nowhere. Keep that thing under control!" She mimed picking something off of the ground, but it was clear that there was nothing there.

"No you weren't." Carmine said. "Besides, he barely grazed you."

"I saw you reaching right for his Pokémon." Ash added.

Oakley froze as a crowd was forming around them, trying to see what was going on. But then a large shadow passed over the crowd, pulling everyone's attention away to see the Salamence flying overhead. Oakley used the opportunity to run away, meeting up with Annie at the other end of the deck.

"That was close." Annie said to her sister. "You're lucky you managed to get away."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Hunter J said as she ran up to the two. "That was sloppy of you. Now come on, were leaving."

"But what about the others? We can't just leave them in the middle of this." Annie asked.

"Forget them. If they want to stay here and get caught, that's Team Rocket's problem. But as of our agreement last week, you don't work for Team Rocket anymore, you work for me. And as your new boss, I'm ordering you leave those weaklings behind as we make our getaway."

"Don't think you're getting away that easily!" Wes and Rui ran up to stop the trio. Wes had his Espeon and Umbreon out and ready to attack.

"We don't have time for this." Hunter J said, and suddenly the Salamence flying around launched a Hyper Beam in front of Wes and Rui before landing besides Hunter J. The attack scorched the floor in front of the two and prevented them from continuing their pursuit.

"Come on, this is our ride." Hunter J said as she climbed onto the Dragon Pokémon's back. Annie and Oakley followed suit and they flew away from the S.S. Anne.

Wes clenched his fists tightly as he watched them get away, a look of intense anger on his face.

"Woah," Rui said as she saw Wes' reaction, "there's no need to be that angry." Rui said in concern for her friend. "So what if a few got away, we can still get the others."

"That's not what my problem is." Wes said as he headed back towards the crowd, which was beginning to thin out as people went back to their rooms.

"Then what is?" Rui asked as she dashed to catch up to him.

"Never mind, right now. It's not important anymore. As you said, there are more we need to help catch."

* * *

Seeing what was happening with the others, Jessie, James and Meowth decided that it was best to just lay low and sneak away from the crowd rather than risk making a scene by trying to steel any more Pokémon. They just needed to get away with what they already managed to get.

"Who even teaches their Pokémon how to use Defog?" James muttered to himself as they walked back inside. "That move is almost completely useless is most situations."

"Well, it came in handy for them this time." Jessie replied.

"Yeahs, unfortunately for us." Meowth whispered as he tried to keep up with the other two. "It might be better for one of yous ta carrys me, I can't go very fast on all fours anymore."

Jessie picked up Meowth and tried to stay in character by holding the Scratch Cat Pokémon like he was a baby.

"This's humiliatin'."

"Quite now, Meowth can't talk." Jessie whispered nervously between clenched teeth in a tone that could be mistaken for someone talking to a baby if they weren't really listening to her words.

The three made their way back out on the other end of the deck. This was the agreed upon rendezvous point, but no one else was there yet.

"I suppose Attila and Huna are the only others still here at this point." Jessie observed.

"But what do we do now?" James asked.

"I guess we just wait here for them so that we can make are getaway."

"It would have been nice if they had actually told us how were supposed to get off of here." James complained.

"I suppose they wanted to make sure we couldn't leave without them. It's hard to work with people as secretive as those two."

"And yet they ain't the ones what left us here." Meowth chimed in, then pointed up to the sky. "Hey, wait a minute! Are they's comin' back for us?"

Jessie and James looked up and saw that indeed, Hunter J's Salamence was flying back towards the ship.

"I knew they wouldn't leave me behind!" Jessie declared excitedly. "Girls got to stick together, after all."

"Something doesn't seem right though…" James said.

As Salamence reached the cruise ship, suddenly it opened its mouth and let out a huge Flamethrower, scorching the hull of the ship.

"What's going on?" Jessie panicked.

"Are they's tryin' ta kill us?"

"Quick, let's get inside before they fly back and strike again!" James yelled as he started to run away, but Jessie pulled him back.

"Don't be dense, you can't just run _towards_ the fire!" She yelled at him. "Besides, who knows what kind of damage that did to the inside of the ship. We're better off staying here."


	35. Chapter 35

As Jessie, James and Meowth tried to figure out what to do with the sudden fire aboard the S.S. Anne, Hun walked out from the smoke, limping towards them. His clothes were scorched and his flesh was burned. The three also noticed that Hun's legs and boots were strangely wet.

"Are you alright?" James called out to the injured Hun.

"I'll be fine." He grunted out as he reached the trio. "It's nothing that time won't heal."

"But where's Attila?" Asked Jessie. "Is he alright?"

"He'll be here shortly. He just has something else he needs to do first."

Hun sat down on a box to rest and the group of four waited for their fifth member to arrive.

* * *

Red, Yellow and Daisy frantically ran away from the blazing fire that had suddenly erupted from where Hunter J's Salamence had attacked the ship. They made their way towards the life rafts, like everyone else on board was doing, but then suddenly Yellow stopped.

"We need to keep going!" Red warned as he turned back to face her.

"We can't!" Yellow pleaded. "Maggie's still back in our room! We need to go back for her."

"Looking for this?" All three turned around to see who had spoken, and were not happy to see who it was.

Attila was standing there. His clothes were damaged from the fire, one of the lenses of Attila's sunglasses was shattered and his boots were still yet from the ice Lorelei had trapped him in earlier. In his hand, he clutched the tail of a flailing Magikarp.

"Maggie!" Yellow yelled to her Pokémon, then turned to its captor. "Let her go!"

"If you insist." Attila held Maggie out over the railing and began loosening his grip to drop the Pokémon into the ocean. He laughed at the girl's distraught reaction, but then stopped when an Abra appeared in front of him. Abraham spun around in midair and smacked Attila across the face with his tail. Unfortunately, the shock of the blow caused Attila to lose his grip completely. Maggie slipped from his fingers and fell off the side of the boat into the ocean.

"No!" Yellow screamed as she ran to the railing to see her Pokémon plummet into the sea.

Red knelt down besides Yellow and put his hand on her shoulder to reassure the girl. "Don't worry. Maggie's a fish. She'll be just fine until we can find her again." He then stood back up and faced Attila. "As for you on the other hand, I can't make the same promise."

Attila just laughed at Red's threat and pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket. He threw it to the ground and by the time the smoke had cleared, Attila had walked off in the direction of the fire, already too far for the trainers to safely follow him.

"Come on," Daisy said as she grabbed Yellow by the hand. "Let's get to a life boat. I'm sure Maggie will be waiting for us."

* * *

After the fire started, Looker's team shifted their attention away from trying to find Team Rocket, instead focusing on helping the ship's crew get all of the passengers to safety. They were guiding people make their way to the lifeboats, while advising those with Pokémon to Surf or Fly away if they could, so that they could make more room for those who couldn't. Lorelei had her Pokémon create an ice platform off the side of the ship, which Lance's Dragon Pokémon were flying people onto.

"Shouldn't someone be working on putting out the fire?" Rui yelled to the others.

"I'm on it!" Wes shouted back and started running over to where the inferno was continuing to increase in size and intensity. He pulled out an Ultra Ball as he ran, calling out the Pokémon that was held inside. "Go, Suicune!"

The majestic Legendary Beast of Water emerged from the Ultra ball in a full gallop and fired a spray of Hydro Pump from its mouth. The crystal clear water washed over the flames and subdued them. Soon other trainers sent out their Pokémon to help put out the fire as well.

"He has a Suicune?" Lorelei asked, dumbfounded. "Where did he get that?"

"I actually forgot he had that." Rui chuckled lightly. "He has an Entei and Raikou, too. They were some of the Shadow Pokémon we captured and purified last year."

"That's amazing." Lance said in awe. "Having one Legendary Pokémon is impressive enough, but three? That's almost completely unheard of."

Looker cleared his throat, reminding the others to get back to work helping people off the ship.

* * *

"Here he comes now!" Hun announced as the limping figure of Attila became visible as a silhouette highlighted by the flames he was walking away from.

Jessie and James ran over to the injured Attila and helped walk over to where Meowth and Hun were still waiting. They set the large man down on a box beside the one Hun was resting on so that he could rest for a moment as well.

"I guess it's time to call this mission a loss." Attila grumbled as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a radio. He pressed the talk button and held it up to his mouth. "This is Attila. Commence evacuation protocol. I repeat, commence evacuation protocol. Get here as fast as you can, over."

"So, what now?" Jessie asked, somewhat frantic. "How are we supposed to get off of this burning ship?"

"I just called for a ship to come pick us up." Attila explained, then looked over to the fire. "Hopefully they can get here in time."

"I can't believe the others would have betrayed us like that." James commented.

"I can." Attila replied. "I just can't believe I didn't see it coming."

They all stood in silence for a moment as they waited for their getaway to arrive. Eventually that silence was broken when Meowth noticed a drop of water land on his head, followed by another.

"Is it rainin'?" He asked.

"Someone must have had their Pokémon use Rainy Day to help with the fire." Hun said as he held one of his hands out to feel the rain drops coming down. "Smart tactic."

The rain quickly went from a light sprinkle to pouring down hard, and the area became increasingly dark as black clouds filled the previously clear blue sky. The fire had almost completely been put out at this point by the combined efforts of the trainers and their Pokémon working to extinguish it, and the rain finished up their job quickly.

"I don't think this is just Rainy Day." James said as the rain started to come down harder. "This feels more like a storm."

Just as he said that, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky, the deafening sound of thunder echoing throughout the ship.

"Something ain't right here." Meowth said worriedly. "Dat definitely ain't a Rain Dance causin' dis."

The storm worsened as huge waved crashed against the hull of the S.S. Anne. A whirlpool suddenly formed off the starboard side of the ship, from which a mighty figure emerged.

"Shadow Force." Attila cursed in a low tone that the others couldn't hear over the loud winds. "I didn't realize that Magikarp was about to evolve."

Water rushed down the sides of the Atrocious Pokémon as Gyarados glared down at Team Rocket, ready to attack them.

" _I'm here."_ The unmistakable monotone voice of Agent Masque came from over the radio Attila was still clutching in his hand. _"Jump off the port bow."_

She didn't need to tell them twice, as the group made a mad dash to get away from Maggie's wrath as the Pokémon readied a Hydro Pump to blast at them. But as they ran, another Gyarados rose up from the water, followed by another and another until a dozen wild Gyarados surrounded the ship, much larger and more powerful than the freshly evolved Maggie.

"And it's attracted the attention of a nearby school of them."

The newly arrived Gyarados began swimming in a clockwise circle around the S.S. Anne in preparation for one of their dreaded Dragon Rage attacks. Maggie tried to stop the others, but she was too weak to stop even one of the toughened elder Gyarados from performing their move. Trainers from the aboard the ship sent out their strongest Pokémon to try and stop the Gyarados, but it was already too late. Once a school of Gyarados begins their group Dragon Rage, they become an unstoppable force that only the strongest of Legendary Pokémon could interfere with. Even the mighty Thunder of Wes' powerful Raikou couldn't even faze the twelve Gyarados.


	36. Chapter 36

"Can you believe it?" Ash wondered aloud in shock. "We were all having a good time and then… all of that, one thing right after another."

Ash, Misty, Brock and Carmine were all sitting on the back of a Lapras, slowly drifting away from the S.S. Anne.

"I'm never going on another boat as long as I live." Brock said.

"I'm just glad I have my trusty Lapras here to ferry us away." Misty sighed. "Everyone has all of their stuff, right? If we left anything behind, we can't exactly go back for it. It's extremely hard to stop a single rampaging Gyarados and I don't think anything could stop twelve of them at once."

"There are advantages to just keeping all of your stuff in your bag with you at all times." Carmine added. "It lets you leave anywhere at any time without having to worry about that. Not that it's much comfort right now with this going on. I just hope everyone else ends up all right."

"Do you think we should head back?" Ash asked the others. "See if we can help anyone?"

"Looker's team were already working on that and I'm sure they have it mostly under control." Carmine answered. "Or at least, no less under control than it would be if we were still there. I know this is hard to think about, but you can't help anyone if you can't help yourself. Even though helping others is important, you need to look out for yourself first."

"You right." Brock said. "That is hard to think about. I don't think I can agree with that philosophy."

"We can't Surf back there anyway." Misty pointed out. "The storm is making the water to dangerous."

"Where'd you get a Lapras, anyway?" Carmine asked the Water-type specialist. "Aren't these things supposed to be really rare and almost impossible to find?"

"She was a gift from my mentor. She raises them as a hobby and gave me this one. " Misty stroked the head of the Transport Pokémon's head. "She's not much for battling, but she's a great Surfer and a good companion for long trips."

The Lapras neighed back happily at the compliment, then returned to seriousness as she tried to make her way through the storm. Though the storm quickly seemed to fade away.

"Hey!" Ash shouted while looking back at towards the S.S. Anne. "It looks like there's something going on back there."

Misty turned her Lapras around and the others noticed it as well.

"What is that?" Brock asked.

"I don't know." Carmine answered seriously.

* * *

After Red had defeated Attila's Skarmory, Abraham had teleported away to get Pikachu in case Team Rocket would try anything else. Unfortunately they had been to late in returning to stop Attila from taking Maggie and they were all now paying the consequences. Pikachu watched in horror as the Gyarados continued circling the ship.

"This is it. There's nothing more I can do." Pikachu said to herself, trying her hardest not cry from despair. "I've failed in protecting her. My only hope is that Abraham can safely teleport her away from here and that he will continue to protect her in my place. And here I thought 'he' was the only one that I truly needed to protect her from."

It was then that Pikachu noticed that the rain had stopped falling. Not that it had stopped raining, but that the individual raindrops had stopped in midair.

"No!" Pikachu felt even more dread seep in as she looked around. The Gyarados had also stopped, encased in a faint purple glow. The people onboard the ship, their Pokémon, everything. It was almost as if time itself was being held in place by some immeasurable power. A force strong enough to seemingly control reality itself. "It can't be."

Only Pikachu was still capable of movement and, she knew, Yellow would also be unaffected by this power. Pikachu ran to find Yellow and, sure enough, the girl was looking around trying to figure out what was happening. The girl grabbed Red by the arm to try and break him out of the spell and, much to Pikachu's surprise, it worked.

"What's going on?" Red wondered aloud as he was brought back into motion.

"I'm scared." Yellow hugged Red tightly, her arms squeezing Red's waist. "I don't know what's going on, and I feel… I feel…"

"What do you feel?" Red held one arm around Yellow's back and rested the other on her head, trying to comfort the girl.

"I feel something coming. No, someone. I don't know who or what it is, but I feel… terror."

"Nothing will happen to you." Red said gently. "I'll make sure of it."

Pikachu watched the emotional scene as it happened below her. Pikachu knew now that letting the boy protect her was the right choice. In fact it looked as if it was the only right choice that she had made. She was about to hop down to great Yellow, that they could have at least one last moment together before the end. But it was too late.

Pikachu felt his presence first, then caught a glimpse of movement descending from above her. Yellow did the same, with Red looking up to see what the girl was looking at. The three all saw the same dark, cloaked figure fall gently from the storm onto the upper-most point of the wrecked ship.

" **You will not harm the girl."** His voice rang clear throughout the entire scene as he spoke to the Gyarados. Yet despite this, his mouth did not move, for he did not speak at all. Thoughts were projected straight from the mind of the powerful psychic. **"She is mine, and mine alone. And now that I have found her, no one will harm her ever again. No one will use us again. We will finally be free at last."**

"Who do you think he's talking about?" Yellow asked in a low whisper, trying not to attract the stranger's attention.

"I think he means you." Red replied, equally quite.

" **Yes, I mean the girl."** The hooded figure floated down to where the two were standing. **"Now, you will give her to me."**

Pikachu fired a Thunder attack at the stranger, who raised his arm up and absorbed the lightning bolt into its hand. In the process his hand slipped out from under the sleeve of his cloak, revealing three long, gray fingers with bulbous tips.

"What are you?" Red asked.

" **Give me the girl!"** The stranger reiterated.

"I don't want to go with you!" Yellow screamed at the cloaked figure.

" **Yes, you do. You just do not know it right now due to your absence of memory."**

"No. You feel… bad. You are bad! You're the reason I lost my memory, aren't you?!"

The stranger slowly lowered his hand down again as it became apparent that Pikachu would not try another useless attack. He was silent for a moment before finally saying: **"It was an accident. I did not mean to harm you, but they had to pay for what they had done. For what they would do. Now, come with me."**

"She said she doesn't want to." Red walked out in front of Yellow, as if shielding her with his own body.

" **Silence, boy!"** The stranger thrust out his hand and Red was lifted up into the air by a psychic grasp around his throat.

"No!" Yellow couldn't bear to see her friend in trouble and dashed out towards the stranger, tackling him to get him to stop strangling Red. This didn't knock him down, but it did surprise him enough that he released his grip on Red, who fell back to the floor.

" **What are you doing?"**

"I'm protecting my friend from you, monster!" Yellow held out her arms in defiance against the mysterious cloaked figure. Red had been protecting and saving her ever since they met, and it was her turn to return the favor.

" **I see now that your mind has become poisoned with misconceptions and lies. I will have to correct that."**

"How many times do we have to tell you?" Red asked as he managed to get to his feet. "She's not going with you."

" **Silence!"** The mysterious stranger lifted his hand towards Red to choke him again.

"NO!" Yellow held out both of her arms towards the stranger and a white light radiated from her, spreading around her entire body and engulfing the entire ship and everything around it.


	37. Chapter 37

The first thing Red noticed was the feel of the sand beneath him, followed by the sound of waves crashing against the shore. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up, to find that he was on what appeared to be a small deserted island. Beside him was Yellow, who was also just waking up.

"Where are we?" She asked as she got up. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure." Red had to grab his forehead due to a throbbing headache. "The last thing I remember was…" He tried to think. "The S.S. Anne was on fire, and then it there was a storm. I think… Some Gyarados showed up and were going to destroy the ship?"

"I remember that. And that mean guy from the mountain tossed Maggie away." Tears started to well up in Yellow's eyes.

"That's right. The Gyarados must have wrecked the ship and we washed up here."

"I'm never going to see Maggie again, am I?" The tears started flowing down hard as Yellow cried. Red hugged her tightly to comfort the girl.

"You don't have to worry about that." The two quickly turned around to find the source of the new voice. Behind the, was a large rock, roughly 20 feet in height and shaped almost like a giant fang. At the base of the rock was a small cave, inside which they could faintly see a small figure standing there. "Your Gyarados was the one who brought you here. She should still be swimming around the island."

Just then, Red and Yellow heard the sound of something emerging from the water and they turned around to see a Gyarados waiting there.

"Maggie!" Yellow hopped to her feet and ran over to her Pokémon. Red followed her as the girl hugged her first Pokémon, her arms not even reaching half way along the massive Pokémon's thick body. Red handed Maggie's empty Pokéball to Yellow, who took it and recalled Maggie back into it. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again!"

"It's always nice to see such happy reunions." Said the figure in the cave.

Red turned back to see the person again, just in time to see the entire cave lit up by a blue lightning bolt. The lightning was being held by the person in the cave like a staff or walking stick, its light revealing the man's features. But he wasn't a man.

"You're a…" Red was dumbfounded. "You're a Pikachu?"

The Electric Mouse Pokémon chuckled, his voice being surprisingly deep for something of his small size. "Yes, I am a Pikachu. But I'm not a normal Pikachu as I'm sure you can tell."

The Pikachu walked out of the cave and into the sunlight, allowing Red and yellow to get a closer look at him.

"You're cheeks are blue." Yellow noticed. "And your ears and stripes to."

"A Pikachu with blue markings…" Red muttered to himself. "That sounds familiar…"

"I should hope so." The Pikachu laughed again. "Otherwise that would mean that your kind have stopped telling the stories of my exploits. For you see, I am…" The Pikachu paused for dramatic effect. "Pikoa! Guardian of the Seas!"

* * *

"I think I'm starting to get seasick." Brock groaned.

"We're almost to land." Replied Misty. "I'm sure of it."

"How many hours have we been out here?" Ash asked aloud.

"I'm telling you we're almost there!"

"I think I see something!" Carmine stood up and lost his balance, almost falling off the Lapras.

"Sit down!" Misty yelled at him. "And I see it too. The shore's just up ahead."

Lapras surfed towards the land and eventually the group were able to make their way onto a sandy beach overlooked by a steep cliff.

"Not ideal." Brock said. "But it's better than being on the water for any longer."

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Ash asked the others as Misty recalled her Lapras.

"I thought you were supposed to be an expert climber." Carmine pointed out. "It's the one thing you've always been good at."

"That doesn't mean I can scale a thirty foot cliff!"

"How about we just go over there?" Misty pointed down the shore, where the cliff steadily sloped down to shore-level.

"Right. I knew that was there." Brock said a little too defensively."

* * *

"How do we get back to land?" Red asked Pikoa.

"You're on land." The unusual Pikachu pointed out. "But if you want to get back to the mainland, I can help you out. Just ride your Gyarados across the ocean, I can guide you."

Obediently, Yellow pulled out Maggie's Pokéball and tossed it out over the ocean. Maggie dove into the water and surfaced again by the shoreline. Red lifted Yellow up onto Maggie's back and then climbed on himself. He then held a hand out to help Pikoa get on, but the Pikachu instead ran out to the waves and leapt out onto the water. He seemed to slide along the surface as if her were surfing as a wave formed below him that seemed to follow his will.

Pikoa surfed a lap around Maggie, who was slowly swimming away from shore. As he went out in front of her, he gestured back for Maggie to follow him, which she did. They made their way across the ocean at breakneck speed until they finally reached the shore. Red and Yellow climbed off of Maggie onto a long section of some kind of boardwalk.

"If memory serves," Pikoa scratched his chin, "This is what you humans would know as Route 13. If you head north you should reach Lavender Town, south will lead you Fuchsia and west should take you to… Vermilion, I think."

"Thanks for your help!" Yellow called back to him.

"Yes, thank you." Red added. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"It was no trouble at all!" Pikoa nodded back to them. "It's just nice to get company once in a while. Until we meet again, humans!"

Pikoa surfed away while Red and Yellow waved in goodbye. When he had left, the two turned around and made their way north to Lavender.

"I used to hear stories of Pikoa when I was young." Red commented as they walked. "But I always thought they were just old myths. He'd have to be thousands of years old at this point."

"What kind of stories were they?" Yellow asked inquisitively.

"Mostly stories about a surfing Pikachu who could control the waves and carried as staff of lightning. He would go around helping fishers and sailors when they were lost at sea. But those stories are thousands of years old. He certainly matches the descriptions given in those old stories, but he'd have to be ancient."

Red let out a depressed sigh, which caught yellow's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about my mom." Red answered with sincerity. "She's probably worrying herself sick right now, and I mean that literally. I need to find a phone."

"But don't you have one of those PokéGear things like what Daisy has?"

"I wish."

* * *

Ash's group made their way along the shore until they managed to reach the end of the cliff, then decided to walk up the cliff to get a better viewpoint to figure out where they were. To their surprise there was actually a small town at the top of the cliff.

"I've heard of this place." Brock said. "This is Maiden's Peak."

"How do you know that?" Ash asked him.

Brock pointed to a statue of a woman situated at the center of the cliff's peak, overlooking the ocean.

"The town is named for that statue, which is said to hold the spirit of a young woman who waited for her lover to return from an ancient war long ago. They say that she waited, standing there, for her lover's boat to return from the war. But the boat never returned, so she waited until her body eventually turned to stone."

"I wonder if the boat was destroyed by Gyarados?" Ash mused.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Misty said. "Gyarados are renowned for their legendary tempers. Boats thses days have to be specifically designed not to attract them."

"Then I wonder what caught the attention of the ones who attacked the S.S. Anne?"

"We may never know." Carmine said seriously. "Though I'm more curious about what that white flash was right before we were blown away from the ship."

"I just hope everyone else mad it." Ash hung his head down.

"I'm sure their all just fine." Misty reassured Ash, though she didn't really believe her own words. "Some of the best trainers in the area were on that ship. I'm sure they managed to get everyone to safety."


	38. Chapter 38

Gary woke up in an unfamiliar hospital room, looking up at a plain, white ceiling. "Where am I?" He muttered as he sat up.

"Nice to see that you're finally awake." Kat stood up from the chair beside Gary's bed that he had been sitting in.

"What happened?" Gary asked his cousin.

"The ship went down. No one knows exactly what happened, but they found all of us washed up on the shoreline near Route 11. We're in a hospital in Vermilion right now. I heard that they've had to get doctors from all over the region here to treat everyone."

"Where are the others? Is Daisy alright?" Fear was starting to sound in his normally prideful voice.

Kat pointed to the next bed over. Gary looked over to where she was pointing and saw that Daisy was lying unconscious in the bed.

"The doctor said that she has a mild concussion and a few minor injuries here and there, but that she's in fairly good shape. Apparently everyone is in pretty good shape considering what happens, but that just adds more confusion as to what actually did happen. Kat sat back down again. "By the way, Mal, Sue and Ciel are all over in the waiting room. Ali and Cleo are on their way home to Pallet. They said that they can't put up with this anymore."

"What about Ash? Red?"

"I'm afraid that no one's seen them." Kat looked down to the ground. "They weren't with the rest of us when we were found. Lorelei of the Elite Four said that Ash and his traveling companions should be fine. She saw them riding off on a Lapras which she was adamant would be able to take them safely through even the worst storms. They probably just made their way to a different shore then the rest of us. We don't know about Red or the girl he was with though."

"I feel like I'm largely responsible for what happened to that girl." A doctor who had just entered the room. "I was the one who signed off to let her go with him." The doctor forced a smile, which years of practice made sure looked completely genuine, and turned to Gary. "Hello, my name is Doctor Sallow and I will be overseeing your recovery. How are you feeling, today?"

"My entire body feels sore and I have a bad headache." Gary complained.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Doctor Sallow said while checking the clipboard hanging from the end of Gary's bed.

"Do you have any idea when my sister will wake up?" Gary looked over to the unconscious Daisy.

"She should be waking up any moment now, actually." The Doctor said as he put the clipboard down and turned towards the girl.

Sure enough, Daisy's eyes flickered open as she slowly became aware of her surroundings.

"What happened? Where am I?" She asked as she sat up and raised one of her hands up to her forehead.

* * *

David Oak set his phone back onto its receiver and looked up. He was sitting at his desk in his home office back in Pallet Town. Sitting in the many chairs that lined the room were friends and family. They all waited with baited breath.

"That was the hospital." David announced. "Gary and Daisy are both awake and fine, but I'm afraid there's still no sign of the others."

The members of the Oak family and most of their close friends that were there all gave a collective sigh of relief. The two women who were sitting off to the side of the room, however, still looked depressed. Delia Ketchum tried her hardest to remain calm with the situation for the benefit of the other woman, and overall was doing a fairly good job of keeping her composure. She placed a comforting arm around the woman that was sitting in the seat beside her, who was taking the news, or rather the lack of news, much harder than Delia was.

Sariah Redwood was a rather frail woman. Ever since her ex-boyfriend left her almost eleven years ago and she was left to raise their son on her own, Sariah's health had been in a constant and continuous state of decline. Over the years she had been reduced to little more than skin and bones, with a sickly pale complexion. She also had coughing fits that she was normally been able to keep relatively under control, but had recently started to become more and more frequent with time.

Unlike some of the others in Pallet Town, Sariah was not a particularly wealthy person, and her medical expenses would have outright bankrupted her long ago if were not for the generosity of Delia and the Oaks, who were willing to pay her medical bills for her. But even so, life was an uphill battle for Sariah, until recently when her health had finally started to balance out. But now the stress of current events was quickly undoing any progress she had made and if anything she was now in worse shape than ever.

"Red will be just fine." Delia reassured Sariah.

"I'm sure he probably just ended up on another beach and is looking for a phone right now to let you know he's fine." Professor Oak added.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Sarah said between her crying and a few coughs.

The phone rang again and David picked it up almost instantly. His eyes grew wide as the person calling started to speak and a live video of the caller popped up on the phone console's display.

"Yes, she's right here." He spoke into the phone. "Hold on a moment, I'm going to put you on speaker."

David pressed a button on the console and turned it around so that the others could see who it was.

" _Hi, Mom!"_ Red called out over the phone. _"I called home but there was no answer. I figured this was the next best number to call. I'm doing just fine!"_

Sariah instantly started to feel better at the sight of her son, alive and safe. She let out another cough before greeting him in return.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Samuel."

" _Hi, Red's Mom!"_ Yellow came into view of the screen and waved at the screen on the phone they were calling from until Red pointed her to the camera.

"Who's that?" Sariah asked in confusion.

" _Oh, right."_ Red embarrassment was made clear by the expression on his face. _"I keep forgetting to call and let you what's going on. This is Yellow."_

Red told them the story of his adventures since leaving Pallet Town. He was fairly detailed for the most part of his story, but he did make sure not to mention their meeting with Pikoa. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that encounter, so he thought it would be best not to mention it to anyone yet.

" _And so we made our wayup north to the Route 12 Gateway, which is where we're calling from using a payphone. The way to Vermilion was blocked by a sleeping Snorlax, and they're know to sleep for days on end, so we're going to head up to Lavender Town next."_

"Well, be safe." His mother replied. "And make sure to check in more often."

"And if you see Ash, tell him to call in more, too!" Delia added, confident that if Red and Yellow had made it to safety, that her son and his friends would too.

"I will. Goodbye!" Red waved to the screen as he reached over to end the call.

"Bye!" Yellow added just before the call ended.

"Well that certainly puts a heavy weight off of all of us." David said as he turned the phone back to its normal position. "It's good to know Samuel is alright."

"Although I am a bit curious about that girl, Yellow." Professor Oak stroked his thin thoughtfully. "I can't shake the feeling that I've seen her somewhere before, but I can't seem to place her anywhere. That's why I didn't bring it up."

"I suppose it's only natural that Red would be good with taking care of people like that." Sariah said. "After all, sometimes it felt like he was taking care of me as much as I taking care of him when he was growing up."


	39. Chapter 39

After awaking on land with no memory of how she got there, Zoroark made her way north. The Dark-type Pokémon was succumbing to fatigue and had no idea where she was going or how she would get there, but she was determined to get there.

She started moving at a sprint, but eventually had to slow down to walking, and then she had to crawl. Eventually she was just dragging herself across the ground as she reached a heavily wooded area that reminded her of somewhat of her home. It was at this point that whatever little strength she had left was gone and she blacked out for a while.

* * *

Built around Maiden's Peak was a small town called Maiden's Village, which was currently celebrating its annual Summer Festival, as Ash and his companions soon learned after entering the village. Paper lanterns and strings of lights lit up the whole area as the sun set over the horizon and the sound of drums could be heard in the distance. People filed the streets, dressed in traditional celebratory garb as they participated in various games and activities, or just generally enjoying themselves.

Ash's gang were too tired to really get involved in any of the celebrations however, and decided to just find somewhere to stay for the night. The small town did not have a Pallet House or even just a Pokémon Center, so they had to search around for a small, very traditional inn. The group checked in for the night and went off to their rooms.

"Now that were settled in, I'm going to call back home and let everyone know we're alright." Carmine announced to Ash and Brock after they had settled down into their shared room. "Although I should probably find somewhere private to make the call from, first. These walls feel like they're paper thin. Isn't that right, Misty?"

"It's almost like the walls are actually made of paper." Misty agreed. Despite being in the next room over, it still sounded as if she was right there with the others.

Carmine walked out of the room, leaving Ash and Brock to get ready to go to bed. The beds were of an old design, like everything there, and seemed to be little more than just mats on the floor.

"I've stayed somewhere that feels so… rustic." Ash noted. "It feels really weird."

"I like it." Brock said. "It gives me an idea of what it was like for people back in older times."

"I know, right." Misty added in, still in the other room. "It's so nice to just take a break from the modern industrial society and enjoy a simpler time."

Ash shrugged. "I guess I just don't see the appeal. Although it looks like Pika and Volty seem to be enjoying it."

The two Pikachu were resting at the foot of Ash's mat. They were curled up so that their heads were resting against each other's sides and their tails formed a ring wrapped around them.

"Is that normal behavior for Pikachu?" Ash wondered aloud.

"Pikachu are known to huddle together for warmth at night." Brock pointed out.

"I think they already fell asleep." Ash observed. "And I think I'll join them."

* * *

Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur had been wandering around ever since their confrontation with Damian and deciding to challenge the Pokémon League by themselves. Unfortunately they had yet to find a way to do so without a human trainer, so they had been spending their time wandering in a desperate attempt to find anything that could help them in their goals. They eventually found themselves traveling south on Route 6, where they found an unfamiliar black and red Pokémon collapsed onto the ground. The Pokémon seemed to be sleeping, but awoke as they approached it.

"Are you alright?" Bulbasaur asked the barely conscious Pokémon as he lifted it up to its feet with his vines.

"I must find…" the Pokémon moaned, "my son."

"Well I'm afraid you won't be able to find anything in the shape you're in right now." Charmander told the mysterious Pokémon. "Come with us, we'll help you recover your strength so that you can continue your search."

The group made their way off the beaten trail and made a small shelter. Bulbasaur fashioned a leaf into a cup, which Squirtle filled with water for the black Pokémon drank graciously while Charmander went off in search of berries to eat.

"Thank you." The Pokémon said. "My name is Zoroark."

"Hmm…" Squirtle thought about something. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so." Zoroark answered.

"It's just…" Squirtle said. "Your voice seems very familiar to me."

"I know!" Bulbasaur chimed in. "You sound like that one won weird lady we met that one time."

"The human woman who could understand our speech." Squirtle remembered.

"I know what you're talking about." A look of realization crossed Zoroark's face. "That was me."

* * *

Giovannni sat alone in his office watching a news report about the S.S. Anne.

"Interesting." He said to himself.

Just then a small red light started flashing on Giovanni's desk. He quickly turned off the news report and pressed a button underneath the desk and nine large screens slid down the wall in front of him. The center screen lit up to show a slightly plump blonde man in a white suit.

"Are you insane?" The man yelled furiously at Giovanni. "What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?"

"I assure you, destroying that ship was not our intent." Giovanni politely told the angry man. "It was merely an unfortunate coincidence."

"Like the Distortion World it was! The Foundation was barely able to make it through the Cipher incident last year without anyone getting suspicious. The last thing we need right now is you complicating things any further. Another stunt like this and we're cutting you off!"

"Relax, Mr. President." Giovanni's calm demeanor remained completely unfazed. "The International Police can't even touch us without having to risk Operation Pay Day taking effect."

"You do realize that scheme of yours would affect everyone, right?" The blonde man was clearly uneasy with the mention of Giovanni's contingency plan. "Not just the police, but every government would be ruined. Even the Foundation would be affected if that happened. Even you would be."

"That's exactly what makes it so effective of a threat." Giovanni replied. "No one wants it to happen, even you. Which is why the Foundation will maintain its support of Team Rocket."

The blonde man stared angrily at Giovanni, then finally spoke. "I'm calling a meeting of the council."

"Go right ahead."

The man pressed a button on his white desk and slowly, one by one, the other screens each lit up to show another member of the mysterious council until only one remained blank.

"I hereby this meeting of the council to order." The blonde man announced. "As president of the Foundation, I make a movement too…"

The man trailed off as suddenly the last screen lit up and an unexpected guest joined their meeting.

"I hope I'm not too late." Said Hunter J.

"Who are you." Asked the man in white asked angrily. "How did you reach this channel?"

"You would know me as Hunter J." The woman said slyly. "As I understand it, your little club is now short a member now that Es Cade is in prison and Cipher has disbanded. I am here to announce myself as his replacement."

"Es Cade didn't have a replacement." Pointed out a bespectacled, red haired man. "None of us do."

"But she has a point." Said a serious looking man with light blue hair. "We need a tenth member and Es Cade is gone."

"But how do we know we can trust the lass?" Asked a large, heavily tanned man.

"Giovanni can vouch for me, can't you?" Hunter J said with a flirtatious smile.

"You pouched two of my agents and left five more to die on the wreckage of the S.S. Anne." Giovanni explained. "The only thing I have to say about you is that you cannot be trusted."

"They chose to join me." Hunter J explained. "And your other men made it out just fine, from what my sources say."

"I like this woman." Said a man with long, puffy green hair. "I vote for her to join."

"This isn't up to a vote, yet." The man in white said. "Although we do need to replace Es Cade's seet on the council. In one week the nine of us will meet to discuss possible candidates. After that we shall hold a vote. If we vote for you to join "Hunter J" then we will contact you. Otherwise you are not to contact us again. If you have not heard from us by the end of the month than you are to destroy the transceiver you used to reach us and forget this frequency. Tell no one of our existence or the consequences will be dire for you."


	40. Chapter 40

"I guess this is it." Pikachu muttered to herself, lying still on a sandy beach in some unknown place, unable to open her eyes for fear of where she would find herself. "I have failed her. After I tried so hard to do everything in my power to stop him from taking her, he was still able to get to her anyway. What was I even thinking? There was no way I could stop him. He's too powerful for me to stop. For anybody to be able to stop."

"Well, it may seem that way, but clearly someone or something was able to stop him, otherwise we wouldn't still be around to think about it."

Pikachu was shocked to hear the familiar voice, but not enough to open her eyes. Not that it would do any good as the voice was projected into her mind, meaning that even if she did look around, Abraham wouldn't be there to see anyway.

"So I guess that means I'm still alive at least, or else you're dead too." Pikachu thought back to the Psychic Pokémon.

"No, you're definitely alive. I'd say probably somewhere on one of the islands south of the Kanto mainland. I can't quite pinpoint your location to bring you back, but I can still connect to you via the psychic link we've been using to communicate."

"Oh, goody."

"Yellow's safe by the way. I'm not quite sure what happened but we washed up on an island and were able to find our way back on Maggie, being guided by some sort of ancient water-Pikachu-deity thing. I'm not really sure what he was."

Pikachu's ears perked up at the news.

"She's safe? I never thought she'd be able to get away from him in a direct confrontation."

"Well she did, somehow. And there doesn't seem to be any sign of him continuing his pursuit. My guess would be that whatever happened drained enough of his power to force him to retreat and recuperate. Hopefully it will buy us enough time to find a more permanent solution than just 'keep a low profile and hope he doesn't find her.' Because I think we both know that isn't going to work."

"For someone who doesn't actually talk, you're quite the chatterbox." Pikachu remarked.

"I only seem that way to you because you're so stoic."

"And what do you propose we could do to stop him, anyway? What could possibly stop something with his power."

"A Legendary."

"What?" Pikachu said blankly.

"I don't know how we'll find one or get it to help us, but the only solution in fighting something that has been granted such power would be with something that already has enough power to equal it. A Legendary Pokémon."

"Good luck with that." Pikachu sighed. "I'm just going to enjoy my rest here and find a more practical solution."

Abraham didn't say, or rather, think, anything else. Pikachu took that as a sign that he had left their mental conversation for the time being. She continued to lay there motionless for a while before finally deciding it was time to get up and figure out where she actually was. She crept one eye open, and then the other, before standing up and taking a look around.

"Well, none of this looks familiar at all." Pikachu said to herself. "Though that's not really all that surprising. I guess I should probably try and find some higher ground to get a better look around."

* * *

Pika was suddenly rolled onto the ground, falling hard onto the wooden floor. Pika opened his eyes to see what had disturbed them, to see Ash leaving the room. The trainer was still in his pajamas and seemed to be in some sort of trance as he walked out the door. Pika shook his partner awake and Volty opened her eyes groggily in response.

"What?" Volty asked sleepily.

"Something's wrong with Ash." Pikachu whispered to her, not wanting to wake the others about this matter, yet. "He just left without us."

Sleepiness suddenly left Volty as she was shocked awake by that information. "Should we go after him?"

"Of course we should." Pika responded. "Come on, before we lose track of him."

The two Pikachu ran out of the inn and chased after their trainer. Pika ran as fast as he could, while Volty used her Quick attack to make short sprints so quickly that it looked almost like she was teleporting. They caught up to Ash as he made his way slowly towards the statue of the maiden. Pika and Volty each grabbed onto one of Ash's legs and tried to pull him back, but they were not strong enough. Finally, Pika gave up on that idea and shocked Ash with Thunderbolt.

"Aagh!" Ash yelled, then looked around in confusion. "Wait… where am I? What am I doing?" He turned back to see his two Pikachu, who looked relieved to see that Ash had regained his senses. "What's going on, guys?"

Suddenly, a wall of ghostly fire encircled the trio, trapping them in the spot.

"You will not escape so easily." A deep, raspy voice echoed through the flame-lit field. "She is expecting you, and I will make sure that she is denied your presence no longer. She has waited too long already."

Pika and Volty leapt onto Ash's shoulder as the three all looked around to try and find the source of the haunting voice. A spectral image suddenly faded into view in front of them of a dark sphere surrounded by a purple fog materialized. Two big white eyes suddenly opened wide on the sphere and a huge mouth spit out its tongue before the sphere vanished into nothingness again.

Ash fell to the ground in shock from the sudden ghostly appearance and he instinctively reached down to grab his Pokédex, which had been left back at the inn.

"Who… who are you?"

"I am the one who will reunite the maiden with her lost love. The one who has spent countless centuries waiting for his soul to return here. You may call me…" The sphere suddenly appeared behind Ash's shoulder. "Ghastly!"

Ash stumbled forward at the sudden appearance of the ghost and almost walked right into the ghostly blue flames surrounding them.

"But what do I have to do with that?" Ash asked, fear evident in his voice.

"Why, you have everything to do with it, of course."

Pika jumped at Ghastly and swung down its tail in a Brick Break, but the attack passed harmlessly through the air as the ghost faded away again. Pikachu landed on the ground and looked around in confusion.

"Oh, don't think you'll be able to get the best of me that easily." Ghastly's voice haunted the air. "The maiden has been waiting a long time for her love to return to her and now that I am so close to reuniting them, I won't let anything stop me."

* * *

Looker and his team, currently consisting of himself, Lance, 009, Wes, Rui and Lorelei, made their way back to their headquarters in Viridian with the aid of 009's Alakazam.

"I never thought I'd miss this place so much." Wes remarked.

"That could have gone much better." Said Lance.

"Ja." Looker agreed. "Though we should be grateful that it did not turn out worse."

"How could that have gone worse?" Rui asked.

"Everyone on that ship could have drowned at sea." 009 explained. "But as it happens, there are no confirmed casualties. Almost everyone was accounted for when we awoke after the storm, and those who weren't have since been confirmed as alive."

"But I am curious as to what attracted those Gyarados." Lorelei said. "All I can think of would be the fire. But who's Salamence was that, that started the fire in the first place?"

"I believe that the Salamence in question belonged to the mercenary known as Hunter J." Looker explained. "The International Police have been after her for quite some time, but we have been unable to capture her or even learn her true identity."

"Her name is Jael Jaeger."

Everyone turned to look at Wes.

"How do you know that?" Looker asked him.

"Jaeger." Rui mouthed the name in recognition. "But that's… it's your…"

"It's my last name." Wes confirmed. "Because she's my mother. At least with the biological sense of the term, anyway."


	41. Chapter 41

Pikachu hopped back onto Ash's shoulder as the sound of Ghastly's laughter echoed around them. The Ghost materialized again in front of Ash and continued speaking. Pika and Volty took the opportunity to strike, sending out dual Thunderbolts which collided in the air to merge into a larger electric strike which was able to zap Ghastly directly. The ghost reeled back from the blast towards the flames behind him. But to the shock of Ash and his Pikachu, Ghastly did not actually touch the fire. In fact, the entire ring of fire seemed to move back to keep Ghastly within it, forcing Ash to take several steps forward to avoid being burned by it.

"Why do you continue to fight against the inevitable?" Ghastly asked in a pained voice. "No matter what you do, I will unite the lovers."

"I still don't know what you're talking about!" Ash shouted in frustration.

"It would appear that you need a sample of my power to get you to cooperate. Now… let's see what it is you fear most…"

Ghastly faded away again and for a moment there was complete silence. A shadow formed on the ground beneath where Ghastly had been and slowly grew out of the ground. Ash and his Pikachu watched in shock as the shadow took form.

* * *

"Alright, we had a little setback, but now it's time to get back on track!" Gary said triumphantly as he walked out of the hospital alongside his sister. Kat and the others trailed behind the two. "Onwards to Lavender!"

"You're going to Lavender Town?" Daisy asked her brother in surprise.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Well, I was thinking about going with you for a bit, but if you're going to that haunted ghost town then count me out."

"What? Don't tell me that you're afraid of a few ghosts." Gary teased her.

"You know those ghosts are just rumors, right?" Ciel asked the two.

"No they're not." Kat argued. "I've seen a few."

Daisy froze up in panic at that remark.

"Of course, they're only Ghost-type Pokémon." Kat teased.

"I don't care." Daisy waved her hand through the air in a dismissive manor. "I'm not going to Lavender Town with you and that's that."

"I never said you could come, anyway." Gary pointed out.

* * *

"You's called for us?" Meowth asked as he, James, Jessie, Attila and Hun hesitantly walked into Giovanni's office. Their leader looked upset about something, but his frown quickly changed into a slight smile as he saw them.

"Yes." Giovanni said calmly. "I wish to discuss your mission. You failed to capture any Pokémon, three of your teammates went AWOL and you've attracted the unwanted attention from some very powerful people."

The members of Team Rocket all froze, each waiting in anticipation for what horrible punishments they would receive from their failure.

"However," Giovanni continued, "that means our membership in only down by three traitors and the world now thinks much more highly of our threat. This has served as an even greater example of what happens when people try to interfere with us than I ever could have hoped. You may have failed the mission that you were assigned, but you've still done will enough to earn yourselves a promotion… Elite Squadron."

The five stood there in surprised shock. Seeing their reaction, Giovanni decided to continue further.

"However, you will need to fill out the missing positions of your team, so I have hand selected three new members of your Squadron." He waved towards the door and Agrnt Masque walked into the room, followed by Butch and Cassidy. But something seemed odd about the two. They seemed cold and emotionless, while their eyes seemed like they no longer reflected light. They had been changed in the same way that Masque had. Their hearts had been closed up, leaving them as only shadows of their former selves.

"As it happens, I don't have another assignment for you quite yet. So I suggest you do some training to get to work better with your new teammates. That will be all for now, you may go."

* * *

"Behold your greatest fear!" Ghastly laughed evilly. "It is…" The ghost's voice faltered. "you?"

The black mass had formed into a duplicate of Ash, though the copy did have a few noticeable differences. The copy didn't carry himself with quite the same air of confidence that the real Ash had developed and looked almost like he was slightly younger. A duplicate of Pika rested on the fake Ash's shoulder, but with no Volty besides him. The copy stared meekly at Ash, who looked back with unease.

"I don't get it." Ghastly rematerialized next to the real Ash. "Are you truly afraid of yourself?"

"No." Ash said, more to himself than to Ghastly. "I don't think that's me. Something's different about him."

The fake Ash assumed a fighting position, with the fake Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity.

"Come on! Let's battle!" The fake Ash challenged his true counterpart.

"I guess I don't have a choice." Ash held out his right arm, giving Pika his cue to enter the battle.

Pika hopped onto the ground between the two Ashes, his mirror duplicate doing the same. Ash and his counterfeit copy both gave their Pikachu their first orders and the two Pokémon acted at once. The fake Pikachu launched a Thunderbolt at Pika, who shrugged off the attack and retaliated with a Brick Break. Pika's tail slammed against the imposter and sent him flying out of the ring of fire.

"Looks like you won this fight," the duplicate Ash said, "but how about a rematch?"

"You don't have another Pokémon." Ash pointed out.

Another illusory Pikachu materialized when the first one had stood. Ash sighed as the battle begun again. The copy Pikachu tried to use Thunderbolt again, only to be knocked away by another Brick Break.

"Wow, you're good. But I bet you can't beat me again."

"I think I'm starting to get it." Ash said as Pika defeated a third copy. "This isn't me at all. Or at least, not the me that I am." A fourth Pikachu showed up, and Pika defeated it like the others. "It's would I could have been. What I could still be." Pika defeated a fifth Pikachu. "This is an Ash Ketchum who never learned, a me that has dedicated so much to becoming a Pokémon Trainer that he has forgotten his, no, my true goals."

"Come on. I'll win eventually!" The fake said after Pika defeated yet another copy Pikachu.

"I still don't understand." Ghastly said.

"I always thought that I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer and eventually become a Pokémon Master. It's what we all wanted to be back in Pallet Town and I felt I had to surpass my friends. But seeing this me has made me realize something."

"What?"

Ash turned to the Ghost. "I want to be more than that. I want to grow up. If I were to pursue that goal endlessly, I'll never really amount to anything. I can't afford to let life pass me by as I widdle away my time were working towards endless pursuits."

"That's deep." Ghastly nodded wisely. "And I was just trying to scare you to death. Literally."

"I still don't understand why you want me."

Ghastly looked at Ash, then to the copy. The ghost decided to let his illusions fade away and the wall of fire surrounding them died down.

"I'm assuming you've heard the story of Maiden's Peak?"

"One of my friends told me about it earlier."

"Well, after the maiden passed on, I agreed to help return her love to her. I've been spending the centuries since then looking for him, but obviously humans don't live this long. So, instead of searching for him, I've been looking for someone who shares his soul. And as it happens, I've found it in you."

"But I'm not him." Ash pointed out.

"I know. I let my quest take over me, much like you're worried will happen to you. But now I realized that I failed my quest long ago and will never be able to reunite them."

"That's okay." Ash jumped when he heard the sound of a woman's voice behind him. He then got an even bigger scare as he turned to see who it was and saw the maiden's ghost floating there. "I understand and I think that after all this time that we have finally met the point where we must both move on."

"You're right, Hanami. It is time. But what should we do now?"

"You could help me in my quest." Ash said once he regained his senses. "You are a Pokémon, right Ghastly?"

"Yes." The Ghost-type Pokémon eyed him warily. "But I thought you were giving up on becoming a Pokémon Master."

"Don't be ridicules." Ash smiled. "I'm not giving up on my dream just yet." He then dropped his smile and his tone became more serious. "I just need to make sure that I don't let it take over me and I'm sure you can help with that."

"Fine." Ghastly nodded. "You have a deal. But what about you?" Ghastly turned back to the maiden's ghost.

"If it is alright, I would like to travel with you as well." The woman said. "At least until I find something else to do."

"Sure." Ash said, holding out his arm to shake her hand. "Of course you're welcome to."

The maiden. Hanami, looked down at Ash's hand and giggled. Ash then pulled his hand back in embarrassment, realizing that a ghost had no physical form, and therefore could not shake his hand.


	42. Chapter 42

Daisy walked up to the Vermilion City Gym and held out Bulbasaur's Pokéball. "This is it." She said to her starter Pokémon. "We probably should have done this before getting on the S.S. Anne, but oh well. We're going this now."

She walked into the large industrial building and immediately her hair began to frizz up from the acces static hanging in the air.

"What…" Daisy had no idea what was going on.

"Welcome to the Viridian Gym." Lt. Surge greeted Daisy, who was greatly intimidated by the large man, standing at almost twice her height. "I'm guessing your here to earn the Thunder Badge."

"That's right." Daisy managed to get out. "My… my name's Daisy."

"Alright. I think I remember seeing your records. Daisy Oak, right? You've got two badges already?"

"That's right." Daisy confirmed.

"Good, good. Then this will be a one-on –one fight like your previous Gym battles have been. Get to your position and we'll start the match."

Surge jogged up to the opposite end of the battle field while Daisy nervously walked over to her end, still uneasy about the electricity flowing through the room. She called out her Bulbasaur while Surge sent out his Pikachu.

"Use Sleep Powder!" Daisy called out to her Bulbasaur, who sprayed out a wave of pollen from the bulb on her back towards Surge's Pikachu as it charged up to her for a Thunder Punch. The attack caused Pikachu to trip and fall to the ground asleep. Taking the opportunity, Bulbasaur launched a volley of Razor Leaf and lashed out with a Vine Whip. Both attacks hit Pikachu at the same time, knocking the Electric rodent back and also jarring it awake. Pikachu rushed up for another Thunder Punch, this time dodging out of the way of a Razor Leaf and hitting Bulbasaur right in the cheek. Electricity rushed through Bulbasaur with the shock of impact, paralyzing the Grass-type.

Pikachu prepared to hit Bulbasaur with an Iron Tail, but was interrupted as Bulbasaur was able to spray a puff of Poison Powder right into Pikachu's face, sending the Mouse Pokémon stumbling back in a coughing fit. Bulbasaur tried to take advantage of this by charging forward in a Takedown, but her paralysis left Bulbasaur unable to move fast enough and Pikachu was able to back away and fire a Thundershock at Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur launched another Razor Leaf, sending two of the leaves arcing forward in two directions. Pikachu easily dodged the attack and started running up to Bulbasaur to hit it with another Thunder Punch. Fortunately for Bulbasaur, she hadn't really been aiming for Pikachu with that move and the two leaves finished their arcs, returning towards her and striking Pikachu in the back, knocking him to the ground.

"This is it, Bulbasaur!" Daisy encouraged her Pokémon. "Finish the battle!"

Bulbasaur lashed out with a Vine Whip, knocking Pikachu unconscious and winning the fight. With the battle won, Bulbasaur began to glow and grow into its evolved form, Ivysaur.

"Very good." Surge clapped lightly as he walked up to Daisy. "You've earned this." He handed a Thunder Badge out to Daisy, who graciously accepted it.

* * *

Ash quietly snuck back into the inn, making sure not to wake anyone. Pika and Volty rode on his shoulders while Ghastly and Hanami silently floated behind him. As Ash reached his room, he reached into his backpack and pulled out an empty Pokéball, holding it out to Ghastly who gently bumped his against it and was engulfed by the red energy.

"I'm going to go back to sleep now." Ash whispered to Hanami as quietly as he could. "See you in a few hours."

"Actually…" Hanami said at her regular speaking voice, worrying Ash that she would wake up the others. "As a ghost, I can only be seen or heard when I choose to be. As such you will not be seeing me again until I choose for you to. I would also like to keep my presence a secret."

Ash nodded to the ghost girl and lied down on his sleeping mat, Pika and Volty returning to their resting place by his feat. Hanami watched as the boy fell asleep and after a while Ghastly left its new Pokéball.

"He is the current vessel of Katsuo's soul, is he not?" He asked her.

"I cannot say for sure." Hanami spoke mournfully. "It could just be a coincidence that he looks and feels the same as him. But either way it would be unfair to end the boy's life just so that I could be reunited with my love. I have waited for over a thousand years for him to return to me, and I can surely wait another lifetime."

* * *

"So what you're saying is that you have the power to make yourself appear human?" Squirtle asked as he, Charmander and Bulbasaur finished listening to Zoroark's story.

"Yes. I just told you that a few second ago." Zoroark pointed out.

"I know. I was just confirming it to myself while I think."

"What are you thinking about?" Asked Charmander.

"I think I have an idea. We need someone to help us go through the Pokémon League and Zoroark need to find her son. I think we can help each other out."

"How so?" Zoroark questioned.

"You can turn into a human and register as a Pokémon Trainer. We could then go around collecting all of the Gym Badges while searching for leads on where this Hunter J lady is."

"That would never work." Said Bulbasaur. "They'd see right through the disguise immediately."

"No, I think he's on to something." Charmander added.

"Is no one going to ask me what I think?" Zoroark asked.

"Right, this decision should be Zoroarks." Said Squirtle. "Take your time to think about it."

"I don't need any time. I'll do it."

"Really?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

* * *

"Wow! That's the biggest building I've ever seen!" Yellow looked up in awe at the massive tower before them as she a Red reached Lavender Town.

"I think that would be the Pokémon Tower." Red explained. "It's supposed to be the tallest man-made structure in the region."

"Neat! Can we go there?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Red said. "It's a… well, it's a cemetery."

Yellow's cheery disposition faded away. "What?"

"Or I guess it would be more accurate to call it a mausoleum." Red looked down at his feet as they continued to walk through town. "If I remember correctly from my history classes, it was first built thousands of years ago after the Great War. Ever since then the tower has been built up and restructured several times. People and Pokémon are still buried within to this day."

"Do we have to stay here?" Yellow asked.

"We're just going to stay the night at the Pokémon Center and leave in the morning."

"Alright." Yellow looked uneasy. "But, is this place haunted?"

"People have claimed to see ghosts in the area for centuries." Red looked at Yellow and saw how frightened she seemed. "But there's no such thing as actual ghosts, of course. It's just Ghost-type Pokémon and people thinking they see things that aren't really there."

"Let's just hurry to the Pokémon Center." Yellow said.

The two walked a couple more blocks and took a turn, reaching a friendly looking, red roofed building they both recognized immediately. The Pokémon Center seemed highly out of place when surrounded by the old and faded pinkish-purple stone houses that filled the rest of the town. Red walked inside the Pokémon Center, with Yellow right behind him and they were greeted by a friendly nurse.

"Hello and welcome to the Lavender Town Pokémon Center. Can we heal your Pokémon?"

Red walked up to the counter the nurse was standing behind and handed her his Pokéball, which the nurse placed in a healing machine. While he was waiting for that, Yellow wandered around and found a creepy looking woman with unkempt bushy black hair standing off to the side.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" The woman asked as she noticed Yellow.

"N-no." Yellow stuttered out.

"Your right of course. Ghosts don't exist. But then again, what's that hand on your shoulder?"

Yellow jumped up in freight and turned around to see what the woman was talking about, but didn't see anything there. The woman cackled in delight from Yellow's overly dramatic reaction to her joke.

"That's not funny!" Yellow whined.

"It was for me. But seriously, kid. Ghosts aren't real." The woman paused for a moment in consideration. "Spirits on the other hand are all around us."

Yellow froze up as Red walked over to her and rested his hand gently on her shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

"Hold on!" The woman shouted. "Wouldn't you like to have your fortune read before you go?"

"No thanks." Red herded Yellow away from the creepy woman as they went to the resting area to stay for the night.


	43. Chapter 43

Ash woke up again in the morning to find that the others were already up and packing. The maiden's ghost was nowhere to be seen, like she had told him.

"About time you woke up." Carmine said to him. "You back to your old sleeping habits?"

"No. I just woke up in the middle of the night and it took me a while to go back to sleep." It wasn't the whole truth, but Ash didn't exactly lie either. He got up and packed his own things, which didn't really take long since everything was already in his backpack.

When they were done, Ash, Carmine and Brock met up outside the inn with Misty and the four headed west. It didn't take long to reach the edge of town and soon they were hiking through the wilderness.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Misty asked.

"Wherever we end up." Ash answered her.

"Which according to this map would be Lavender Town." Brock clarified.

"Bleh." Misty stuck her tongue out in distaste. "Do we need to go to the ghost town?"

"Don't tell me you believe in ghosts?" Carmine mocked the Gym Leader.

"Of course not. It's just creepy, is all."

Ash couldn't help but grin at the irony of their conversation as he looked over to where he imagined Hanami was floating. For a split second he thought he saw her flicker into sight, smiling back at him and trying not to laugh, before she vanished again.

"What are you smiling about?" Misty yelled at Ash, snapping his attention back to the others.

"Oh, nothing." Ash lied. "It's just fun seeing you get scared."

"Why you little…" Misty punched Ash lightly in the shoulder.

"Come on!" Ash shouted as he started to run. "The faster we get there the faster we can leave!"

"Oh, you're on." Misty stopped and reached into her backpack, pulling out her bike. "I can get there faster than you can!"

"Ah, youth." Carmine sighed as Brock ran to catch up with Ash and Misty. "Why do people always seem to get so nostalgic for it?"

* * *

Wes' Espeon and Umbreon nuzzled up against his hands as he slouched in the chair opposite Looker's desk.

"There you go." He told the International Police officer. "A full report of everything I know about my mom. Can I go now?"

"Hmm…" Looker looked through the papers that Wes had handed him. "Yes, I think this should be good for now."

"Great." Wes said sarcastically as he got up and turned to leave, his two eeveelutions trailing behind him.

"Although I do have one more question." Looker said before Wes was able to get out the door.

"What?"

"This report says that she was a member of the gang known as "Team Snagem" but that she left them to join Cipher, leaving you in the care of Snagem's leader."

"Yeah, I know." Wes said irritably. "That's kind of the entire point of the report."

"But you never mentioned your father at all." Looker continued.

"What father?" Wes said in a mocking tone. "I never knew who he was and it's not like Mom ever mentioned him at all."

"I see that this is a sore subject for you." Looker noted.

"Yeah, no kidding. Now can I go?"

"Yes, of course."

Wes stepped out of Looker's office, leaving the brown trench coat clad officer alone.

"The higher ups will be very glad to have this." Looker said to himself as he read through the report again. "But what were the odds that I would recruit the son of a mercenary that Team Rocket hired. I can't tell if this is just a coincidence or if there is something more going on here."

Looker was snapped out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Come in." He said.

009 walked in and sat in the empty chair that Wes had been in only a moment ago.

"What do you want?" Looker asked the girl.

"I was wondering if I could take a look at that report when you were finished with it." She explained.

"Why?" Looker asked inquisitively.

"I just want to know more about the people we have to go up against."

Looker studied 009's face carefully, but the girl's face was as unreadable as ever.

"Fine. I'll let you see it when I am done. But for now I would like to be left alone."

"Of course." 009 stood up again and left, closing the door behind her.

Looker sat there staring at the door for a moment. The girl had been placed under his supervision for several months before they had been assigned this mission, yet he felt like he hardly knew her at all. Tulip Black, known by the codename 009, was the youngest recruit the International Police had ever had, a record previously held by Looker himself years ago. She had apparently been working towards the position her whole life and had some of the highest test scores they had ever seen. But when it came to anything not involving her work for the IP, she was like a black slate. She didn't seem to have any interests, any friends, or even any family. Any attempt at learning anything about her personally had been met with nothing until finally he just gave up on pursuing the matter.

* * *

"Here we are, Lavender Town." Mal said as she drove into the small city.

"I can't believe we had to pull an all-nighter just to get here." Ciel complained.

"What are you talking about? You barely even drove at all!" Mal yelled at her younger sister.

"Can you keep it down up there?" Kat asked, having just woken up from a nap.

"Why are we here anyway?" Asked Sue.

"Because I felt like it." Gary said.

Mal pulled into a parking lot behind the Pokémon Center and the five got out. Gary walked around to the front of the Pokémon Center with the others following him in.

"Welcome to the Lavender Town Pokémon Center! May we heal your Pokémon?" The nurse asked.

"No thanks." Gary told her as he walked over to a map of the town hung up on one of the walls.

While he looked at the map, the girls went to sit down on some nearby couches to rest for a bit. After sitting down, Kat happened to look up to the entrance to the sleeping area and noticed pair of familiar faces walking out and decided to get back up and walk over to them.

"Hey, kid." She said to Red. "What's up?"

"Oh, hey." Red was visibly startled by the sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, nothing." Kat shrugged and pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Gary over there just thought he wanted to check the place out for some reason."

"Hi, miss." Yellow waved at Kat.

Gary noticed his cousin's conversation and walked over to her to see who she was talking to.

"Oh, it's just you two." He scoffed as he saw Red and Yellow. "And here I thought we might actually meet someone interesting here."

"Like who?" Yellow asked.

"I don't know." Gary said a little more defensively than he meant to.

"All kinds of people come here to see the Pokémon Tower." Kat said. "Some have family or ancestors buried there while others see it as more of a tourist attraction."

"A very morbid tourist attraction." Gary added.

Yellow started to look worried as she remembered just where they were and Red was just about to walk her out so that they could leave when another boy and girl entered the Pokémon Center.

"Gary?" Ash yelled in surprise as Misty put her bike back in her bag. "And Red? What are you guys doing here?"

"Wow, I didn't think we'd all be meeting up again so soon." Red said.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Gary snickered. "Although Daisy won't be here. She wimped out and decided she doesn't want to be anywhere near this place."

"That's no way to talk about your sister." Kat scolded him.

"What? It's not like she's here."

"That just makes it worse."

"Would you all just keep quite over there?" Ciel called from over on the couch. "Some of us are trying to rest."

Brock then walked in on the scene, with Carmine following shortly after. The Pokémon Center looked on at all of the steadily growing commotion going on and gave a defeated sigh. She decided to just back away instead of trying to calm things down.


	44. Chapter 44

The Department of Pokémon Training building in Vermilion City was unusually empty. A lone worker nodded off behind a counter while he waited for anyone to show up. After a while, a young woman walked in and approached the worker, who snapped back to attention.

"What can I do for you today?" He asked her.

The woman appeared to be somewhere around her late teens to early twenties, with long bushy black hair that turned red at the tips and she wore a furry black and red coat over a black dress. She had a Squirtle with her that seemed to be wearing an oddly angular pair of sunglasses.

"I'd like to apply for a Pokémon License." She said to the man while looking him with her strikingly bright blue eyes. She had a foreign accent that he couldn't quite place.

"Sure." The man said eagerly. "All you have to do is fill out this paperwork."

The woman took the stapled sheets of paper and pen that the man handed her and walked off to a nearby chair to fill it out. The worker watched her as she filled out the form. If he didn't know any better he'd say that the Squirtle was actually telling her what to write down. But that wouldn't make any sense, would it?

When she finished, the woman returned to the counter and handed the forms back to the man.

"Will this suffice?" She asked.

"It sure will, Miss, uh…" He looked down at the name filled out on the form. "Zahira Darhk, is it?"

"That is correct." The woman confirmed.

"Okay, then. Now all we have to do is get a license filled out for you."

* * *

Daisy walked along the path from Viridian City to Celadon City at a leisurely pace. Now that she had finally earned her third badge and caught up to Ash and Red, she was hoping to quickly be able to earn her fourth and possibly pass them in badge count. Daisy's walk was uneventful at first, but then suddenly her bag began to shake violently.

"What's this?" Daisy reached into her bag and pulled out the source of the shaking: the portable incubation chamber she had been given to keep her egg in. "Oh, wow. I actually forgot I had this with me for a bit. It looks like it's hatching."

The pink egg covered in white star-shaped marking shook and began to crack open. Daisy watched as the egg became engulfed in a bright white light similar to the one that encased a Pokémon upon evolution. As the light faded away, a newly born baby Pokémon appeared in the egg's place. The incubator automatically opened up and the pink star-shaped Pokémon with conical green ears fell into Daisy's other arm.

"Oh, it's so cute." Daisy said as she put the incubator away and pulled out her Pokédex. "Cleffa, huh? Well I'm sure that you'll make a very nice addition to our team."

"Cle!" Clefa squealed happily, gazing up at Daisy with sparkling green eyes.

"Oh, look at that! You can already talk! Kind of." Daisy held up the baby Cleffa in front of her face. "Come on, you baby star, you! Let's get going."

* * *

Charmander and Bulbasaur sat out back behind the Department of Pokémon Training, waiting for the others to return. Charmander was drawing lines on the ground with his stubby fingers while Bulbasaur was lying down, trying to take a nap. After a while, Charmander looked up from his doodles to see the two figures of Squirtle and Zoroark walking towards them and nudged Bulbasaur back awake.

"So, how did it go?" Charmander asked excitedly.

Squirtle smiled as Zoroark reached into her coat and pulled out her new Trainer Card.

"Wow!" Bulbasaur and Charmander both looked at it in amazement.

"It just goes to show how flawed the system is if they can allow for something like this to happen." Squirtle said in a snobbish tone of voice. "But who cares? It sure worked out for us well enough!"

"Now!" Charmander pointed his finger out dramatically in a random direction. "We move off to get our first Gym Badge!"

Bulbasaur and Zoroark followed Charmander as he marched off in the direction he was pointing before Squirtle had to run up ahead of him and redirect them to the correct way to get to the nearest Gym.

"Right." Charmander said Mareepishly. "I knew that. I was just testing you."

"Sure, you were." Squirtle said sarcastically. "How about you just leave the navigation to me, for now."

* * *

"Well, I think we'll be going now." Red said to the others as he grabbed Yellow's hand and began guiding her out of the Pokémon Center so that they could finally leave Lavender Town.

"What?" Gary asked mockingly. "Are you scared of a few ghosts?"

"No." Red answered. "We just don't feel like lingering around here."

"Fine, fine. Coward." Gary called to them as they were about to walk out the door.

"No." Yellow suddenly stopped. "Let's stay."

"Are you sure?" Red asked her, concerned. "You know you don't have to cave into bullying like that, right?"

"I'm sure." Yellow turned back to face the rest of the crowd. "In fact, how about we all go up to the highest floor of the tower. We'll see who's afraid then."

"I'm not sure I like that idea." Ash said.

"Oh, shut it." Gary snapped at him. "There's no way I'm turning down a challenge!"

"Then it's settled." Yellow said. "I'll see you all at the top."

Yellow smiled and ran out of the Pokémon Center. Red turned to the others and gave an embarrassed half-smile before going after her.

"Well, that was a thing." Misty said flatly.

"Come, on!" Gary called to his cheerleaders as he stormed out after Red and Yellow.

"Yeah, there's no way I'm doing that." Ciel said.

"Me neither." Ciel and Mal both agreed.

"Fine, then." Kat sighed. "I guess I'll go after him alone. You know, for hired chaperones, you people don't really do much."

"I guess we're going to." Ash said as he headed out after Kat. Misty, Brock and Carmine begrudgingly followed.

* * *

Zoroark, or rather, Zahira, walked into the Vermilion City Gym. Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur all followed after her. The four all looked around inside and noticed the electricity floating between the pylons on the ceiling.

"Well, I'm out." Squirtle said matter-of-factly as he turned around to leave. "Tell me when you get the badge."

"Wait, what?" Charmander asked, astonished. "What about our goal?"

"I don't mean I'm giving up on that. I'm just not comfortable with all this electricity. I am a Water-type, after all."

"But you're the only one who knows what we're doing!" Bulbasaur called after him.

"I'm sure you can figure it out." Were Squirtle's last words before heading out the door.

Lt. Surge noticed the commotion and headed over to see what was going on.

"Hello there!" He said as he walked up to the disguised Zoroark. "Are you here for a Gym Battle? Or maybe some tips on Pokémon Breeding?"

"The Gym Battle." Zoroark said with a huge awkward smile that looked almost like a grimace as she limply held out her hand.

"Of, course you are." Surge said. "Everyone's always here for that. What's the point of even having a hobby if no one else is ever interested?" He reached out and shook her hand vigorously, with much more force than she was expecting, causing her to wince. "But never mind about that. If it's a Gym Battle you want, it's a Gym Battle you'll get. Now, I don't remember seeing you in the Pokémon League Records before. Are you just starting out?"

"Yes." Zoroark said. "I just got my license today." Then, as an afterthought. "My name is Zahira. Zahira Darhk."

"Well, Zahira, if this is your first Gym Battle, then this will just be a simple one-on-one battle."

Surge walked over to the other side of the room while Zoroark looked back and forth between Charmander and Bulbasaur.

"Which one of you should I use?" She asked them.

"I'll do it." Bulbasaur said as he turned to face the Gym Leader. Charmander walked back behind Zoroark.

"Are you ready?" Lt. Surge called out after letting out his Pikachu.

"I guess so." Zoroark said back.

"Then let the battle begin."


	45. Chapter 45

Pikachu charged up for his opening move of Thunder Punch. Bulbasaur interrupted the move by reaching out with his vines and wrapped them around Pikachu, lifting him up the ground. Pikachu struggled to be let free from Bulbasaur's grasp and send a Thunderbolt running down the vines, shocking Bulbasaur and forcing him to release his grip.

Pikachu was able to guide his fall to bring him closer to Bulbasaur and slapped him across the face with an Iron Tail. Bulbasaur retaliated by launching a Leech Seed at Pikachu. The seed hit Pikachu on the top of his head and small vines grew out to latch itself onto the Electric-type Pokémon, slowly draining his health and transferring it to Bulbasaur.

Pikachu then tried Thunder Punch again, but Bulbasaur picked him up with his vines again, this time launching his Razor Leaf attack at the same time so that Pikachu was hit before he had a chance to react. Bulbasaur then followed up with another Razor Leaf, but Pikachu was able to react in time sending a shock down the vines and getting free before the leaves hit. Unfortunately for Pikachu, Bulbasaur was planning on that and had been preparing his strongest move, Solar Beam.

Bulbasaur finished gathering enough solar energy for the attack right as Pikachu was about to land on the ground. The Seed Pokémon opened up its mouth and a beam of raw solar energy blasted out. Pikachu took the brunt of the attack head-on. As the energy dissipated, Pikachu was still standing there, almost out of energy. The Leech Seed then drained a bit more of his health, which served as the last straw for Pikachu, who then collapsed onto the ground.

"It looks like you win." Lt. Surge said. "Congratulations!"

The Gym Leader walked up to Zoroark and handed her a Thunder Badge. "Here you go."

Zoroark accepted the badge, thanked him and walked out with her Pokémon. Lt. Surge watched them leave as he heard Rotom enter the computer terminal behind ham and he turned around to face it.

 _-You do realize that woman wasn't actually a human, right?-_

"Of course I realized that."

 _-Then why did you let her fight.-_

Surge shrugged his shoulders before replying. "I thought it would be interesting. I've never seen a Pokémon try to command another Pokémon in a fight like that before."

 _-Sometimes I worry about you.-_

"There's no need for that. I know the Pokémon League Rules like the back of my own hand and there is no actual rule against a Pokémon entering the league. If anyone else is going to have an issue with it, then that will be their problem, not mine."

 _-Yes, and this is the same kind of rule exploitation that lets you use a Pikachu that is as strong as a Raichu, with moves that it shouldn't be able to have at its level, just because you bred it yourself locally.-_

"Yep. The rules say that the lowest level Gym Team has to consist of a single basic-level Pokémon that is native to the region. They don't say anything about how powerful that Pokémon can or cannot be." Surge confirmed.

 _-And yet you still can't use me for a battle.-_

"I'm sorry Rotom, but you're not native to Kanto. I may exploit loopholes in the rules, but I don't break them. If we get called to an expedition tournament or something along those lines, I'll be sure to use you, but for Gym Battles, I just can't."

-Fine.-

* * *

Ash looked up at the Pokémon Tower as he stood outside its entrance. The dark, intimidating stone structure suddenly seemed much larger than it had when he had noticed it earlier. Misty, Brock and Carmine caught up to him as he stared up.

"Aren't you going inside?" Carmine asked.

"Y-yeah." Ash stuttered nervously. "I was just waiting for you guys."

"Pika!" Pika chimed in.

Ash swallowed his fear and opened the door leading inside the ancient mausoleum. Despite the spooky atmosphere of the tower's outer wall, the first floor was actually quite pleasant. The floor was lined with green tiles that were well polished and a yellow reception desk stood over to the side, right next to the staircase leading up to the second floor.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Tower." A receptionist said as she saw the group walk in. "How may I help you?"

"Uhh…" Ash was thrown off-guard by the unexpectedly pleasant lobby and did not know what to say.

"We're fine for now. Thank you." Carmine told the receptionist as he grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him towards the stairs.

The two walked up the steps with Misty and Brock keeping close behind them. Carmine let go of Ash as they reached the second level and Ash was left stunned for a completely different reason than he had before.

The first floor of the Pokémon Tower may have been unexpectedly pleasant, but the second floor was exactly what Ash had expected the inside of the tower to be like. The floor tiles when still green, but they did not look like they had been cleaned in any way for a very long time. Stone graves were packed so closely together that they only left narrow paths between them that formed a sort of maze. But none of that compared to the light, purple mist that seemed to permeate throughout the entire chamber.

"What is this?" Misty asked in disgust.

"This is what happens when you pack too much death in one spot." Carmine explained. "It attracts Ghost Pokémon like Venomoths to a candle. Normally a place like this would hire Channelers to exorcise them from the area, but it looks like they haven't been able to keep up with it. Ghost-types are attracted to high places, which means that it should only get worse as we get higher."

"I'm thinking that maybe we should head back." Brock said. "I'm not sure this will be worth it."

"No." Ash said. "We're going to the top."

"But why?" Misty whined.

"Oh, just quit your whining and do as the boy says." Misty and Brock both jumped in fright while Carmine only reacted with mild surprise to the sudden appearance of a Ghastly behind them. "He is your leader, is he not?"

"G-g-g-ghost!" Misty screamed.

"Oh, right." Ash said. "I haven't introduced you yet. Guys, this is the latest addition to my team; Ghastly."

When did… what?" Brock clambered.

"I caught him while you were all sleeping last night." Ash explained.

"Well, you didn't really catch me so much as I agreed to go with you, but the result is the same. Hello, everyone."

"I would complain," Carmine said, "but that would make me a hypocrite. I get into all kinds of stuff while you guys are sleeping and don't tell you about it."

"Wait, what?" Ash asked. "Like what?"

Carmine smiled. "We should probably get going."

* * *

A few floors up from where Ash's group was, Red and Yellow were trying to make their way up the tower.

"This was a bad idea." Yellow admitted to herself.

"Don't feel too bad." Red tried to comfort her. "You had no idea it was going to be like this."

The two turned around a corner in the pathways between graves and realized they just walked into a dead end.

"Man, it's so hard to see through this fog." Red commented. "Come on, let's find a different way."

They turned around and noticed a dark mass rising in front of them.

"Ooooagh…" The being moaned as it moved closer to them, revealing the form of a woman with long, gray hair and wearing white robes. The woman's eyes were glossed over and she moved like a marionette being controlled by an unskilled puppeteer. "You… should not… have come… here…"

Each word that came from her mouth between raspy breaths sounded like the gasping of someone who had spent a week wandering through the desert with no source of water.

"Stay back." Red warned the woman, putting his arm in front of Yellow to shield the girl as she clung tightly to his leg.

"You… will be… punished…"

The woman let out a howl as her arms rose up high and a ball of gas sprung out from her mouth. Red sent out his Charmeleon as the ball of gas formed into a Ghastly. Charmeleon blasted the Ghastly with an Ember and the Ghost-Pokémon seemed to explode into nothingness. The woman collapsed onto the ground as the fog around them cleared up.

"What happened?" The woman asked as she sat back up again. "Where am I?"

"Where in the Pokémon Tower." Red answered cautiously.

"Yes. That's right." The woman stood back up. "The other channelers and I were trying to clear up the Ghastly infestation here when something caught us off guard. The Ghastly were able to overpower us and take over our bodies. I didn't… I didn't harm you, did I?"

"No."

"That's a relief." The woman wiped her forehead of sweat. "But the others are probably still possessed. You should leave now while you have the chance. I'll work on freeing the others."

"No." Yellow said to Red's surprise. "We'll help you. What do we need to do?"

The woman looked at her in astonishment. "Well, I suppose you could try to find the other channelers and free them the way you freed me while I work on expelling the infestation. But be careful."


	46. Chapter 46

Pikachu sat beside a fire that she made herself by gathering some fallen tree branches she found around the island she was on and blasting them with a Thunder Shock. She was stranded on the small deserted island she had washed up on with no way of getting across the ocean that surrounded her in every direction. Her only hope was that some friendly Pokémon or ship would pass by and see her fire.

"In other words," Pikachu thought to herself, "I have no hope left."

As she sat there, the fire slowly began to die down over time. Pikachu shifted some of the branches, causing the fire to flare back to life.

"Well, this is boring." Pikachu muttered to herself.

"Why, hello there!"

Pikachu jumped back from the unexpected, deep booming voice that came from behind her.

"Who are you?" She asked the stranger who had suddenly shown up out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" The stranger asked. He appeared to be a Pikachu, but with blue markings around his body. "I am Pikoa, Guardian of the Seas! Do the Pikachu of these regions no longer pass down the stories of my many heroic tales?"

"I, uh…" Pikachu lost her train of thought for a moment as she noticed that this 'Pikoa' was not standing just offshore as she had originally thought, but on the water itself. "I didn't grow up in the wild. I do not know any of the stories they pass down, about you or otherwise."

"Oh, okay then." Pikoa sounded a little relieved. "That is understandable. Anyway, I just happened to be Surfing by when I noticed you here. I just wanted to come by and see if you needed any assistance. I happen to be in the business of rescuing stranded Pokémon and people. If you want, I can take you back to the mainland."

"And what would that cost me?" Pikachu raised one of her eyebrows inquisitively.

"My, you are quite the mistrustful type. Would you mind if I asked you what happened to make you this way?"

"I would mind that very much, actually." Pikachu said defensively.

"Well to answer your question, it will not cost you anything to get a ride back to the mainland." Pikoa said, dropping the subject. "It is my duty to help all those in need of my assistance, with no reward or payment needed."

"I don't see how anyone could possibly live like that."

"Trust me, when you live as long as I have, you start seeing things in a different light. Things go away over time, but the impact you can make by doing something good lasts forever."

"Quit the motivational speech." Pikachu snapped. "Let's just get going already."

"Alright then, just hop up here." Pikoa gestured to the raised section of water he was standing on. "Don't worry. You will be able to stand on it just fine."

Pikachu hesitantly approached Pikoa and eyed the water carefully. After a moment of consideration, she hopped onto the wave and, to her surprise, Pikoa was right.

"Alright then." Pikoa said. "We're off!"

The two Pikachu sped off towards the mainland. Pikachu silently cursed herself for agreeing to this as she tried to keep herself from getting sick. She had never experienced anything like this before and hoped she never would again.

* * *

Ash stepped out onto the next floor of Pokémon Tower. Ghastly floated along beside him while the others stayed a little bit behind, still uneasy by the presence of the Ghost Pokémon. Ash made his way through the maze of graves, looking down to make sure he stayed on the path when suddenly he crashed into someone and was knocked down to the ground.

"Ouch." Ash said as he hit the floor.

"Watch where you're going, loser." Ash recognized the voice instantly.

"Gary?" Ash stood back up as his rival did the same.

"Oh, great." Gary gave an exasperated sigh. "I can't believe a loser like you managed to catch up to me. Obviously it's only because the fog is making it so I can't see where I'm going, but still."

"Who are you calling a loser?" Ash snapped back. "I managed to beat you in our battle!"

"That?" Gary asked mockingly. "That was simply beginner's luck. Trust me when I say that it won't happen again. In fact, why didn't we have a rematch, right here, right now?"

"Um…" Ash hesitated for a moment as he looked around at their current surroundings. "Wouldn't that be kind of disrespectful to the dead here? Plus it would be nearly impossible to fight in this environment."

"I hate to say this, but I guess you're right. As soon as we get back out of here, though, it's rematch time."

"You're on!" Ash said excitedly as Gary walked off. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm beating you to the top, obviously. What else?"

* * *

Route 7 was a grassy area that was surrounded mostly by thick trees, much like most of the routes in Kanto. It was here that Daisy saw a city's skyline come into view as she was walking.

"You see that?" She asked the baby Cleffa cradled in her arms. "That's Celadon City. It's where I'll be fighting my next Gym battle."

"Cle!" Cleffa raised its hands up joyfully.

Daisy continued on her way to Celadon, but soon her steps began to falter and she came to a stop as she noticed a nearby bush was rattling violently. A Vulpix suddenly pranced out of the bush, startling Daisy. The orange Fox Pokémon looked up as it noticed Daisy, then turned around and fluffed its tails out tauntingly. Daisy shifted Cleffa into one arm and reached her now free hand into her bag, pulling out a Pokéball and thrusting it out.

"Bubble!"

Poliwag came out of the Pokéball and immediately sprayed a barrage of water bubbles from its mouth, blasting the Vulpix with perfect aim. The Vulpix turned back and looked injured, not in body but in pride. The Fire-type's face then turned to anger as its six tails stood on end and began to glow in a blue fire. A similar fire grew around Poliwag and suddenly the Tadpole Pokémon became burned. The injured Poliwag then sprayed a Water Gun at its opponent, nailing Vulpix right in the face. Vulpix retaliated with an Ember, but before the attack even hit, Daisy had thrown an empty Pokéball at it.

Vulpix was sucked into the Pokéball via the standard red light and the ball shook on the ground a few times. The red light on the front button turned off as the Pokéball stopped moving. Daisy recalled her Poliwag and pulled out her Pokédex to check what it had to say about her new Pokémon as she walked over to pick Vulpix up.

"Well girl," Daisy said as she picked up the Pokéball. "Welcome to my party. I'm sure you'll be very useful in our next Gym Battle. From what I've heard, the Celadon Gym Leader is a Grass-type specialist." Daisy put the Pokéball in her bag and looked down at Cleffa. "It's nice how things tend to work out like that, don't you think?"

"Cle,cle!"

* * *

"We did it!" Charmander yelled happily as he, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Zoroark made their way out of Vermilion. "I can't believe we actually did it!"

"Don't get too excited, now." Bulbasaur tried to calm Charmander down. "That's only one badge. We still have seven more to go. And that's just to enter the League Tournament. We still have a long way to go before we're done."

"I know." Charmander looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

Zoroark, still in the guise of Zahira Darhk, held the Thunder Badge towards the light of the sun, admiring how the light reflected off of it.

"Are you going to pin that to your jacket?" Squirtle asked her.

"I'm not wearing a jacket." Zoroark reminded him. "It's just a part of my Illusion ability."

"Right." Squirtle said. "I forgot about that."

Zoroark pulled a small dark case out from the inside of her jacket. She opened up the case and placed the Thunder Badge inside. "That being said, I can keep some stuff tucked into my fur. Like this badge case."

"Where did you get that?" Charmander asked.

"I got it with the license." Zoroark explained.


	47. Chapter 47

"What was I doing?" A channeler wondered aloud as she picked herself up off the floor, looking over to see Red and Yellow standing in front of them along with Red's Charmeleon."

"You were possessed," Red explained to the woman.

"That's right." A sudden look of recognition crossed over the channeler's face.

"The others that we've been able to free are gathering down below to try and expel the Ghost Pokémon from the tower. You should probably go join them."

"Of course." The woman walked away hurriedly, being cautious not to accidentally trip over a gravestone or encounter another Ghastly before she made her way to the others.

"How many more do you think there might be left?" Yellow asked Red as they continued making their way up the Pokémon Tower.

"I don't know." Red answered honestly. "In fact, I've lost track of how far up we are right now. I don't know how much longer we have until we reach the top."

"I kind of regret coming up with this idea. But at least we're helping people." Yellow paused for a moment in thought as the next staircase came into view. "I wonder what the others are doing right now."

"I don't know." Red said as he started to ascend the staircase up to the next floor. "But I guess we'll see after we make it to the top."

* * *

Ash and his group reached another level of the Pokémon Tower. To their surprise, the floor wasn't covered with the same purple fog as the floors below it had been. In fact, the room was filled with a bright, white light. Ash looked over to see a group of women gathered in a circle a little way off from where they were.

"What's going off over their?" Ash wondered aloud.

"It looks like they're probably trying to get rid of the ghost infestation." Carmine whispered to him. "It would probably be best not to interrupt them."

"I agree." Brock chimed in.

"Hey, Ash, what happened to your Ghastly?" Misty asked quietly.

"I don't know." Ash said as he looked around some more, just noticing that the Gas Pokémon wasn't there anymore. "He was just behind me a moment ago."

"Pika, pika." Pika said as he and Volty both motioned down to Ash's waist, where his Pokéballs were resting. Ash held up Ghastly's Pokéball and saw that it was full.

"If the ceremony that they're casting over there is meant to get rid of the wild Ghastly, then it's probably having a negative effect on yours as well." Carmine pointed out. "He probably had to retreat because of that."

"Right, that makes sense." Ash put the Pokéball away and started walking ahead again. "Why did we even agree to come to this place, anyway?"

"We?" Misty asked. "What do you mean 'we'? This is all on you."

* * *

After Daisy finally made her way to Celadon City, she made a quick trip to the Pokémon Center to heal her team and set off to find the local Gym. It didn't take too long for her to find the Gym and she walked in eager to earn her next badge.

The interior of the Celadon City Gym was filled with bushes and flowers that formed a maze. Daisy had to make her way around without any idea of where she was going for several minutes before she finally made her way to a large open area within the maze. A young woman with shoulder length dark hair stood at the other end of the area in front of a small table with several pictures on it. She seemed to be staring at one picture in particular.

"Ahem." Daisy cleared her throat to draw the woman's attention. "Are you the Gym Leader?"

The woman slowly turned towards Daisy. "Oh, uh… yes. I am Erika, Gym Leader of Celadon City. Sorry about that. I was just lost in thought."

"Then I'd like to challenge you to a Gym Battle." Daisy said.

"Yes. Of course." Erika reached absently for a drawer under the table behind her. "How many badges do you already have?"

"Three."

"Then this will be a three-on-three battle." She pulled a set of Pokéballs out of the drawer. "We will start when you are ready."

Daisy pulled a Pokéball out of her bag and held it out in front of her. "Alright, girl. I know I just caught you, but do your best."

Vulpix sprung out from the Pokéball and landed gracefully on the ground in front of Daisy. Meanwhile, Erika called out her first Pokémon, Tangela. Tangela stood cautiously, waiting for Vulpix to make the first move, while the Fox Pokémon sat back and looked at her opponent smugly, as if daring the ball of vines to try anything against her. After a moment, Erika finally gave her Pokémon an order.

"Use Poison Powder!"

Tangela spread a wave of poisonous spores through the air in Vulpix's direction, but eh Fire-Typ seemed unfazed. Rather than dodging the attack, Vulpix instead shot forth a blast of fire from her mouth, incinerating the powder before it could even reach her. She then followed by sending the blast further away, hitting Tangela head-on. Tangela then used its Ingrain move, sending some of its vines down into the ground below it to absorb nutrients and restore its health. This gave Vulpix enough time to use another Flamethrower before Tangela could try and attack. After taking the second hit, Tangela tried to use Growth to increase the power of its next attack.

"Now finish it off with another Flamethrower!" Daisy ordered her Pokémon.

Vulpix opened its mouth and, rather than sending forth another stream of flames, let out a load Roar that seemed at odds with the Pokémon's small stature. The force of the Roar sent Tangela flying back and it was sucked back into its Pokéball, with Erika's Weepinbell taking its place.

"What?" Asked Daisy, confused. "That's not what I said to do."

"You said that you just caught that Vulpix, correct?" Erika asked.

"Yeah."

"Sometimes Pokémon will not instinctively follow your orders and choose to do what they want to instead, until they have learned to trust your commands and leadership."

"I guess that makes sense." Daisy said. She then held out Vulpix's Pokéball and the Fox Pokémon was pulled back inside. "I guess I'll use Butterfree for now, then."

Daisy tossed another Pokéball into the battle and her Butterfree flew out of it. Or at least, it appeared to fly at first, but quickly fell to the ground, soundly asleep.

"Oh, right." Daisy muttered to herself. "I forgot about that. I'll guess I'll just have to make due."

* * *

"It looks like the smoke is finally starting to clear away now." Yellow observed as she and Red made their way up another flight of stairs.

"Yeah, I guess the channelers are making progress with getting rid of the Ghost Pokémon." Red said back.

"I'm starting to get tired." Yellow said. "Can we take a break?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." Red said as he sat down on the cold tiled floor. "I've completely lost track of how many stairs we've gone up."

The two sat there in silence for a while, but that silence was broken by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs behind them.

"Gary?" Red asked as the other trainer's spiky brown hair came into view.

"What, did you losers give up already?" Gary asked back as finished climbing the stairs, clearly exhausted himself. "Well, if you're not going any higher right now, I might as well wait a while."

Gary sat down next to them and the three all waited there for a moment before more footsteps could be heard. Ash walked up to them, followed by Brock, Misty and Carmine.

"Hey, guys." Ash said. "Are we all taking a break? I'm fine with that."

"Actually," Yellow said as Ash and the others started to sit down as well. "I think I'm ready to go now."

Yellow got up and started walking towards the next staircase, with Red following her there. As they went, however, a sudden chill wind suddenly passed through the room.

"Maaaaarrooooo…" Came a harsh moan echoing throughout the tower.

"What was that?" Misty asked aloud.

"I don't know." Carmine said.

"Be gone…" The voice came again. "Intruders…"


	48. Chapter 48

Erika ordered her Weepinbell to strike Daisy's sleeping Butterfree with a Vine Whip. The attack struck the Butterfly Pokémon against the back of her head, but was not enough to wake her up. Erika then followed up by having her Pokémon increase its offensive power by using Growth to increase the size of its vines and strike with another Vine Whip, right across Butterfree's back. This time Butterfree was snapped awake by the blow and hazily flew up into the air.

Weepinbell launched a Razor Leaf at the Bug-type before she became fully aware of her surroundings, but was too late. Butterfree effortlessly dodged the attack and retaliated by using its Psybeam attack, sending a wave of psionic energy at her opponent. The powerful attack caused Weepinbell to be sent flying back and crashed into a nearby Oran Tree. Weepinbell lifted itself up from the pile of scattered pink leaves that had been left from the impact and as it hopped away it noticed a small blue object that caught its attention. It quickly swallowed the Oran Berry and was partly revitalized by it. The now reenergized Weepinbell leapt back into battle and grabbed Butterfree with its vines, tightening its grip into a Wrap attack.

As Butterfree struggled to break out of Weepinbell's grasp, she fired another Psybeam at her opponent. Weepinbell was stuck by the blast again but was able to hold its ground this time. It slammed Butterfree hard into the ground before she could fire another attack at it and then followed up with another Vine Whip attack. As its mighty vine dropped down where Butterfree laid, the Bug-type quickly rolled out of the way of the attack and took to the air again. Butterfree began flapping her wings hard and created a gust of air laced with powdery scales and blew the Silver Wind attack straight at Weepinbell, who took the brunt of the attack head-on.

Butterfree felt a surge of energy course through her as Silver Wind's secondary effect kicked in and she gained a temporary boost to her speed, power and defense while Weepinbell collapsed onto the ground. Erika returned Weepinbell to its Pokéball and sent out her third Pokémon.

"Gloom, come out and finish this battle." She said as the blue Weed Pokémon came out of its Pokéball.

* * *

"Leave this place." A ghostly haze of purple mist materialized in front of Red, blocking the way to the next floor of the Pokémon Tower.

"What's going on?" Yellow asked, fear imminent in her voice. "What is that thing?"

"It's probably just a Ghastly." Gary said. "I noticed a few of them on my way up here."

"That can't be." Carmine pointed out. "All of the Ghastly should have been driven out by the banishing spell that just passed through here."

Ash looked around at the others as they reacted to the ghostly apparition, when he heard the voice of the Maiden pass through his head.

"That's not just a Ghost-type Pokémon." She said. "It's an actual ghost. I'm going to see if I can force it to take its true form."

"Hey, wait a minute," Misty then said, "it looks like it's doing something."

The purple mist suddenly started to pulse and there was a sudden flash of blindingly bright light. It took a moment for everyone's eyes to readjust themselves, but when they could see again, the mist had been replaced by a Pokémon.

"That's a Marowak." Brock muttered in shock.

Standing at a little over three feet tall, the Bone Keeper Pokémon hovered just above the ground, its toes almost touching the cold tile floor beneath it. It held a single bone firmly in its right hand as it stared furiously at the humans who had dared to invade this place.

"Well, I don't care what it is." Gary said as he took a step forward. He held up an empty Pokéball and through it at the Marowak, who didn't react as the ball passed harmlessly through it.

"What?" Red wondered aloud in astonishment.

"No problem." Gary said slyly. "Obviously I just need to weaken it first. Go, Wartortle!"

Gary held up his starter Pokémon's Pokéball and waited for Wartortle to come out of it. Nothing happened.

"I said go!"

There was still no reaction. The others started to check their Pokéballs as well and quickly discovered that none of them were working.

"That ghost Marowak must be interfering with the Pokéballs' internal systems somehow." Brock suggested.

The Marowak suddenly let out a roar and assumed a battle stance, holding tis bone club behind it, ready to attack.

"Great. That leaves us with no way to defend ourselves." Red sighed.

"Don't be too hasty." Ash said. "even if Pokéballs aren't working, I've still got two Pokémon ready to fight."

"Pikachu!" Pika jumped off of Ash's shoulder onto the ground, ready to defend everyone if necessary.

"Chu, pika." Volty did the same.

"Oh, great." Gary said sarcastically. "We have two Electric Pokémon to fight off a Ground-Type. However could this go wrong?"

"Don't worry about that." Ash said. "I can just have Pika use Brick Break. It'll be super effective."

"No good." Carmine pointed out. "That thing's a ghost, which means Normal and Fighting type attacks won't effect it either."

'I didn't think about that."

Marowak then let out another roar and charged forward to attack.

"What do we do now?"

* * *

Erika's Gloom released a Sweet Scent from the flower atop its head which spread throughout the area. Butterfree noticed the scent and became enamored by it, stopping what she was doing and leaving her open for a spray of Acid. Butterfree snapped back to its senses after being hit and started flying circles around Gloom, still experiencing the boost that Silver Wind had given her. Gloom tried to lainch another spray of Acid at Butterfree, but missed. Butterfree stopped flying behind Gloom and hit it with a Psybeam. Gloom was knocked flat onto its face by the force of the blow. Before it could get back up again, Butterfree hit it with another Psybeam and then another. After the third hit, Gloom didn't get back up again, so Erika had no choice but to recall Gloom back to its Pokéball.

"Yeah!" Daisy shouted in excitement. "We win!"

"Not yet, you still haven't defeated my Tangela yet." Erika said as she called her Vine Pokémon back into battle.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Daisy said, embarrassed. "But it's already been weakened, so this should be a piece of cake. Butterfree, use Silver Wind again!"

Butterfree began flapping its wings heavily like before, but before she could launch the attack, Tangela hit her with a spray of Sleep Powder and Butterfree almost immediately fell to the ground, sound asleep.

"Oh, bother." Daisy sighed as she lifted up Butterfree's Pokéball. "Well, you did good while you were still awake. Now it's time for Bulbasaur."

Daisy was just about to call out her starter Pokémon when suddenly Vulpix came out of its Pokéball. The Fox Pokémon let out a howl as her feet touched the ground and let out a spiraling stream of fire from her mouth. The Fire Spin attack hit Tangela and formed a burning ring of fire around the Grass-type. The move proved too much for the already weakened Tangela and it fainted.

"Now you won." Erika said as the flames died down and she called her Tangela back. "Congratulations."

Daisy walked up to Erika, who handed her a Rainbow Badge.

"Thank you." Daisy said as she took the badge.

"You know," Erika said. "You remind me a lot of an old friend of mine."

"Really."

Erika turned to the picture she had been looking at when Daisy arrived, and Daisy took a closer look at it. The picture showed a younger Erika with another girl, with chestnut brown hair and strikingly blue eyes.

"Who's she?" Daisy asked.

"Her name is Karla. Her parents used to serve my family and we grew up together. We were as close as sisters when we were younger." Erika gave a depressed sigh. "Though, I haven't heard from her in years. I have no idea what's become of her."

"That's sad to hear."

"Never mind." Erika turned back to Daisy. "Anyway, congratulations again on earning the Rainbow Badge. I wish you luck as you continue to make your way through the Pokémon League."


	49. Chapter 49

Wes was washing his hands in the Adonis Detective Agency's bathroom when he looked up at the mirror in front of him and stared at his reflection. Recent events had caused a lot of bad memories and old resentment to start bubbling back up inside of him.

"Why did she have to get involved in all of this?" He muttered to himself. "Just when I thought I was finally moving on with my life and put the past behind me."

He studied the details of his face. It was the face he had always had and yet right now he couldn't even see himself, only his mother. Sure he had brown eyes rather than her blue, but the details of his face her nearly identical and he had inherited her silver hair as a painful reminder of his background. Even his deep tan from living his whole life in the harsh desert of Orre was steadily fading away. The tan line left after he removed the reflective tape he used to wear across his face to keep the desert sunlight out of his eyes had become only faintly visible.

Wes placed his hands on the sides of the sink and clenched his fists tightly shut. He closed his eyes and relived the events of his mother's departure when he was just a boy. This didn't last long, however, as he was suddenly snapped out of it by a knock on the door.

"Are you okay in there?" Rui asked from outside.

"Yeah, I'll be right out." Wes called back as he put his gloves back on and opened the door. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much." Rui held her hands behind her back and moved her left foot lightly across the floor beneath her. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go out and do something. Maybe go get dinner?"

A faint smile slowly creased Wes' lips. He had done a lot of bad things in his life, made a lot of mistakes, but joining up with Rui was not one of them. The girl always knew how to cheer him up. It probably had something to do with her powers, now that he thought about it, but that wasn't important right now.

"Sure." He said. "I could go for some food."

"Great!" Rui beamed. "Let's go find someplace good!"

* * *

Rui turned around and left, Wes following close behind. They made an odd pair, but they were a pair nonetheless. Wes wouldn't trade their friendship for anything in the world. Maybe his past wasn't so bad, Wes thought, if it's what eventually led him to her.

The members of Team Rocket's Elite Squadron sat around the long table situated in the main conference room of the organization's headquarters. Giovanni stood at the end of the table, ready to give them their new orders.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why I have called you here." He said as he pushed a button on the table in front of him. The room went dark and an image lit up on the table showing the S.S. Anne shortly before it had set off for its final voyage. "As you all know, this ship sunk just recently under mysterious circumstances. Every passenger and crew member washed up on shore with barely any injuries and yet no one has any recollection of what actually happened. In fact, most of you were there at the time as well and yet none of you have been able to shed any light on the subject. However, we now finally have a lead on what happened aboard that ship."

Giovanni pressed another button and the picture of the ship was replaced with an aerial view of the ship surrounded by a pack of Gyarados.

"It took a lot of resources to get this satellite video feed of the ship's destruction and even more to make sure that no one else was able to access this same information."

Everyone watched as the pack of wild Gyarados surrounded the ship and then as they stopped. A dark figure flew over to the ship and there was a mild commotion before there was a flash of white light and the feed cut out.

"We do not know for sure what that thing was, but we have reason to believe it has something to do with one of the old Team Rocket's plans: Project ReBirth." Giovanni glanced over to Jessie to see the look of recognition pass over her. "Yes, I'm sure that name would be very familiar to you."

"But that project never went anywhere." Jessie pointed out. "My moth-, er, Agent Myra Starr and her team were never able to find what they were looking for, so the project was never able to move forward."

Giovani gave a sly smile. "Yes, that's what you were told. But you have a much higher clearance level than you've ever had before. I think it's time for you, and everyone else here, to learned the truth. While it is true that the scout team never returned from their expedition, they were not emptyhanded. They were able to send back precisely what was needed and the project was carried out in the utmost secrecy on a small island to the southwest. Only a small group of scientists were allowed in on the project and even fewer knew of our involvement. The entire project was then thought lost after an 'accident', but it would appear that not everything was as it seemed."

"I'm confused." James interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, yes." Giovanni turned to him. "You wouldn't be familiar with this. Then allow me to go into further detail on the subject."

* * *

The Marowak ghost threw its bone club towards Pika and Volty. The two Pikachu jumped out of the way as the bone spun furiously past them and nearly hit Ash who has standing behind them. The bone then curved around the room and everyone else had to duck as it went soaring over their heads and straight back to the Marowak, who expertly caught it.

"What do you want?" Misty cried out to the ghost.

"Leave this place."

"Sounds good to me." Gary quickly made his way towards the staircase leading back down. Suddenly the ghost disappeared for a second and reappeared in front of him. "Hey, I thought you wanted us to leave!"

"I don't think it meant for us to leave that way." Carmine said.

"Well, what other way is there… oh, wait." Gary's face gained an expression of horror at the realization of what he meant.

Marowak tossed its bone again and Gary had to dive out of the way. The bone arced its way around the room as before and smacked Yellow in the back of her head, knocking the girl unconscious.

"Yellow!" Red cried out as he grabbed her before she could fall onto the ground.

"That's it!" Ash cried furiously. "You're going down! I don't care if you can't be hit by physical or electric moves, Pika, Volty, take that ghost down!"

The two Pikachu nodded at their trainer and faced their opponent. Volty charged forward with a Quick Attack while Pika jumped up high in the air and came falling down with a Brick Break. Both Pokémon passed harmlessly through the ghost and crashed into each other.

"That's no good." Brock said. "You need to come up with some other strategy."

Marowak swung its club down at Volty, who managed to dodge out of the way. The Marowak then threw its bone again.

"That's it." Ash muttered to himself, then turned back to his Pikachu. "Aim for the bone!"

The two Pikachu both looked at him in confusion and then fired a twin Thunderbolt at the bone as it arced back. The blast knocked the bone off course and it slammed into Marowak's head, knocking it down.

"Way to go!" Misty cheered.

"It's not over yet."

The Marowak grabbed its bone off of the floor and used it to pull itself back up onto its feet. It looked over to Ash in fury and swung its club up, scraping the ground as it went. A huge storm of dust filled half the room and when it faded way everyone that was caught inside was gone, leaving only Gary, Red and the unconscious Yellow alone with the ghostly Marowak.

"Well, that's not good." Gary said bluntly.

"You think!" Red snapped back at him.


	50. Chapter 50

"Now, off we go." Daisy said to her Cleffa as she set out from Celadon City and onto Route 16. "At this rate, we might actually be able to pass the others and reach the Pokémon League first."

"Cle." The pink and green baby Pokémon giggled back at her.

"Oh, that's right." Daisy said absently. "You haven't even met the others yet. I can't wait until I can show you off to them."

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?"

Daisy turned around to see Giselle walking over to her. She had a smug confidence to her posture that Daisy thought reminded her a lot of her brother Gary.

"It looks like we meet again." Giselle said.

"What are you doing here?" Daisy asked her.

"The same thing as you. Or so I would imagine, anyway. I'm making my way to the next town and with it the next Gym. Unfortunately, the way is blocked from here. Unless you have a bicycle, Route 17 is completely off limits and this place is little more than just a dead end."

"Oh," Daisy looked down shyly at the ground. "I wasn't aware of that. I guess I'll have to find another way."

"I see that you've been busy since we last met. You even managed to get yourself a baby Pokémon. Those aren't exactly easy to come by." Giselle bent down slightly to get a closer look at Cleffa. Suddenly the smugness of her expression faded. "Wait, hold on a minute. Is that a shiny?"

"No, she's a Cleffa." Daisy pointed out.

"I know that." Giselle said angrily. "I was asking if she was shiny Pokémon?"

"I don't know what you mean." Daisy said, confused.

Giselle sighed. "How do you not know what a shiny Pokémon is?"

Daisy shrugged her shoulders.

"I shiny Pokémon is a Pokémon that has a different coloration than normal. For example, Cleffa normally have brown ears, not green."

"Really?" Daisy held up her Cleffa to take a closer look at the baby Pokémon. "I didn't even realize that."

"Shiny Pokémon are, like, extremely rare. How did you even manage to get one?"

"She hatched from an egg I was given by a Clefable in Mt. Moon." Daisy explained as she lowered Cleffa back down into her arms.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then don't." Giselle sighed.

"But it's the truth!"

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I know we're rivals and all, but since we both need to head back to Celadon and find a different Route to take, would you mind if travel together for a bit?"

"Um, sure." Daisy answered, surprised by the question.

"Normally I wouldn't ask for something like this." Giselle tried to defend her own ego. "But it gets kind of boring traveling alone all the time."

"I know that feeling well." Daisy added.

With that, the two girls turned around and headed back to Cerulean. This was definitely an unexpected setback, Daisy thought, but at least she had a bit of company for the time being. This also gave her a chance to get to know her self-proclaimed rival a little better.

"So, where are you from?" Daisy asked Giselle.

"Don't push it."

Then again, getting to know her might be a harder challenge than Daisy thought.

* * *

"What are we supposed to do now?" Gary yelled at Red. "We're being attacked by a ghost that won't let us leave, we can't call out our Pokémon and the others are just… gone."

"I am well aware of the situation!" Red yelled back as he lifted Yellow's unconscious body onto his back. "Just give me a little time to think."

"We don't have time!"

The Marowak ghost slowly walked up to them, holding its bone club high above its head ready to strike. Gary tried to call out his Wartortle again, but his Pokéballs were still inactive. Marowak struck down with its club, but both trainers were able to dodge out of the way of the blow.

"Hold on!" Red suddenly shouted. "I think I have a plan."

"Good, now would you mind sharing it with the rest of the class?" Gary asked sarcastically.

"There's only one ghost, but two of us. If we both head in opposite directions, it won't be able to stop us both from leaving."

"Well, I guess that's better than just standing around and waiting to get hit." Gary said as he started running towards the stairs leading back down the tower. "Smell you later!"

Marowak turned back and forth between Gary and Red as they ran in opposite directions away from it, unsure of what to do. After a moment, it made a decision and bolted straight for Red. Fortunately for him though, he had enough of a head start to reach the stairs and make his way up. Marowak did not follow him.

When Red had safely made his way to the next floor of the Pokémon Tower and was sure that the ghost was no longer followed him, he gently set Yellow down on the tiled floor and sat down beside her.

"I don't remember the last time I've been that scared." He whispered to himself. "But at least we made our way out of that. Now I'm only worried about how we're supposed to make our way back down from here."

Red then looked up to see if he could at least find the staircase leading to the next floor and to his surprise he wasn't able to find one anywhere. He gently nudged Yellow in an effort to wake her up and after a moment the girl's eyes finally flickered back open and she sat up.

"Good to see you're okay." He said to her.

"It depends on what you mean by 'okay'." Yellow groaned. "You wouldn't believe the headache I have right now."

"Getting hit in the back of the head with a bone will do that to you." Red replied. "Anyway, it looks like we've finally made it."

"Really?" Yellow stood up excitedly and looked around. "Oh, wow. I was starting to think we'd never make it up here. Where are the others?"

"Well," Red wasn't quite sure what to say. "Gary had to make his way back down so that we could get up here and I don't know what happened to everyone else. They just kind of… vanished."

"What do you mean by-" Yellow's question got cut off as they heard a yell echo across the room. Red and Yellow both looked around to see where it came from and noticed for the first time that they were not alone up there.

At the other end of the room, an old man lay on the floor, backing away from three men dressed in black uniforms that had a very familiar design to them.

"Team Rocket." Red growled. "What are they doing here?"

Red called out his Charmeleon and Paras, glad to see that his Pokéballs were working again, and they ran over to help the old man.

"Stay here." He told Yellow. "This might be dangerous."

"Come on, old man." Said one of the Team Rocket grunts, distinguished by his long, blonde hair tied back in a rather unkempt ponytail. "Just give us the information that our boss wants and this will all be over. No one needs to get hurt."

"Hey, who are you?" Another grunt asked as he noticed Red's approach. This one had short, black hair with large sideburns.

"Leave him alone!" Red demanded.

"Look, kid." Said the third, brown-haired, grunt. "I don't know who you think you are or how you even managed to get up here, but you should just leave now. A kid like you has no business interfering with Team Rocket, isn't that right, Ken?"

"That's right, Al."

"I'm afraid you're wrong about that." Red said. His Charmeleon let out a small breath of flame to show that they were serious. "I've beaten your kind before and I can do it again."

"Alright then." The blonde grunt sighed. "It's your funeral. Which is kind of ironic, given where we are right now."

"I'm not sure that would actually be considered irony, Harry." Al replied.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Harry called out his Muk while Ken sent out his Tauros and Al sent out his Hypno.

"Face it, kid. You're clearly outmatched here." Al said.

"Yeah? Well, we'll see about that."


	51. Chapter 51

"Where are we?" Ash wondered aloud as he, Pika, Volty, Carmine, Misty and Brock woke up in a long, dark tunnel.

"And more importantly, what's that smell?" Misty asked, plugging her nose.

"It sounds like there's water flowing by us." Brock observed. "Could this be some kind of underground river?"

"That, or it could be a sewer." Carmine said. "I'm inclined to think sewer."

"Well, how are we supposed to get back out of here?" Misty asked irritably.

"I guess we should just pick a direction and walk until we find a way out." Ash suggested.

"If we're doing that, we should probably make sure that we can see where we're going first." Carmine pointed out. "Otherwise we could easily end up falling straight into a river of raw sewage."

"Yuck." Misty made a disturbed face, not that anyone noticed it.

"Right." Ash said. "Pika, Volty, I think you've got this handled."

The two Pikachu both let off a series of sparks from their cheeks that dimly lit up the area.

"Yep, definitely a sewer." Carmine commented.

"How do you know?" Misty asked him teasingly. "Have you ever been in one before?"

Carmine gave a menacing glare in Misty's direction. "And why are you still here, again? I thought you just came back for the cruise and that's already over."

"I… I just felt like tagging along for a bit longer." Misty blushed and quickly glanced at Ash for a fraction of a second, though the poor lighting made it almost impossible to notice.

"Alright," Ash tried to ease the growing tension. "I guess we should get going now. The less time we spend down here, the better."

With that, Ash turned around and walked along the narrow pathway that they were standing on and the others quickly followed after him.

* * *

"Alright," Squirtle said to the others as they huddled behind the Mossgreen Gym. "From the looks of it, I'd say this place specializes in either Grass or Bug types. Charmander has the type advantage, either way, so he's our best bet. Are you up to it?"

"Definitely." Charmander declared proudly.

"Okay then. Now that that's settled, it's time to go in. Is everyone ready for this?"

Charmander, Bulbasaur and Zoroark all nodded back at Squirtle and Zoroark walked around to the entrance of the building with the others following close behind her. They entered the Gym and found the leader picking some herbs growing off to the side of the room. She didn't notice them as they approached, so Zoroark had to clear her throat to draw the Gym Leader's attention.

"Oh, sorry about that." The Gym Leader said as she stood up and turned to face Zoroark. "I didn't notice you over there. I'm Cassandra, the local Gym Leader. Are you here for a Gym Battle?"

"Yes." Zoroark answered. "My name is Zahira and I already have one badge."

"Okay, let's not get wait any longer then." Cassandra and Zoroark each walked over to the opposite ends of the battlefield. Charmander readied himself while Cassandra sent out her Paras. "Let the battle begin!"

Paras sent a spray of Stun Spore in Charmander's direction. The Lizard Pokémon blasted a hole through the spores with an Ember and unleashed an intimidating Growl. Paras retaliated with a Scratch but was unable to put its full strength unto the attack due to the effects of the Growl and Charmander countered the attack with another Ember, forcing Paras to take several steps back.

Paras shook itself back to its senses and released a spray of Poison Powder at Charmander, inflicting him with poison. Charmander used Ember again but Paras was able to dodge to the side in time to avoid the attack and hit Charmander with an Absorb, draining some of Charmander's health. Charmander then struck Paras with a Scratch attack and knocked the Bug-type onto its back. Paras tried to roll back up onto its feet but before it was able to, Charmander hit it with another Ember. Paras flailed its legs out widely for a moment before it gave up and passed out.

"That went by faster than I thought it would. You must be an exceptionally good trainer." Cassandra commented as she walked over to Zoroark. "Then again I don't really have much experience with this. Anyway, here you go. You've earned this Mushroom Badge."

Zoroark took the badge and nodded before placing it inside the badge case tucked inside of her 'pocket' before she turned around and left.

"Well, she's not very talkative." Cassandra muttered to herself as she returned to picking herbs. "But I guess it doesn't really matter."

* * *

"Woohoo! Made it out alive!" Gary cheered himself on as he took his first steps outside of the Pokémon Tower. He turned around on the off chance that Red was behind him. "Well, I hope they make it out, but there isn't really anything I can do to help them."

"Well, I definitely didn't think you'd be out of there so soon." Gary jumped as Kat walked up to him. "I guess you probably didn't make it all the way up to the top of the tower, did you?"

"N-no." Gary admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't matter right now. I just want to get out of this crazy place as soon as possible and get back to sanity."

"That's kind of a strange thing to say." Concern showed in Kat's voice. "What happened up there?"

"I do _not_ want to talk about it." Gary's turned absently off to the side as he spoke.

"Alright then, but are you really sure you want to be leaving so soon?"

"I am very sure of that, yes." Gary turned back to his cousin.

"But what if I told you that there was a Gym on the outskirts of the town?"

"I… wait, what?" Gary was caught off guard by this.

"Yeah, the Gym Leader here is kind of a recluse, so not very many people even realize that she's here, but I do know where her Gym is."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Gary screamed angrily.

"I was waiting for a good time to mention it." Kat shrugged.

"Well, 'a good time to mention it' would have been when we first got here! Or even before that!"

"Fine, fine." Kat raised her hands in a motion for Gary to calm down. "I guess I should have mentioned something, but I had no idea you'd act like this."

"Wait a minute." Gary said as he started to calm down and take things in. "Where are the others?"

"Back in the Pokémon Center. I just came out here to stretch my legs and maybe see when you got back."

"Oh, whatever. Let's just check out that Gym."

* * *

"That's two down already." Bulbasaur said excitedly as they walked away from the gym. "We're making great progress so far."

"Let's just hope that we can keep it that way." Squirtle commented.

"We'll do fine." Charmander added. "No one can stop us!"

"I'm just worried about how long we can keep up this masquerade." Zoroark said. "I've only used my human disguises for short interactions or in large groups where everyone's attention is divided away from me, using personalities I specifically use to try and make people not want to talk to me for very long. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, though I will do my best."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Bulbasaur tried to comfort the Dark-type. "You've been able to do a good job so far, after all."

"True." Zoroark muttered.

"There is no obstacle big enough to get in our way!" Squirtle announced loudly. "If we put our minds to it, anything is possible! That's my guiding philosophy and the principle upon which Team Pokémon stands!"

"Team Pokémon?" Bulbasaur questioned.

"That's the name I have chosen for our group and soon everyone will learn to hold that name and all that it stands for with only the highest of honors!"

"I guess that works." Charmander said.

"I think it sounds stupid. I mean what, just because we're a bunch of Pokémon we should be called 'Team Pokémon'? What kind of logic is that?" Bulbasaur complained.

"I like the sound of it." Zoroark argued. "And being Pokémon is what sets us apart from everyone else."

"Exactly!" Squirtle said matter-of-factly. "So then we're all agreed on the name?"

"No, we are not." Bulbasaur said.

"Perfect!" Squirtle ignored him. "Then onward we go, Team Pokémon! Our destinies await!"


	52. Chapter 52

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Red said as the three Team Rocket Grunts ran away from him in defeat.

"Yeah." Yellow agreed as she walked over to him. "I thought for sure they would at least be a challenge. There Pokémon looked strong, at least. But on the bright side, it looks like Paras is evolving."

Sure enough, the Grass and Bug-type Pokémon glowed bright white and grew slightly larger, the two mushrooms on its back combining into a single large mushroom.

"Neat." Red called both of his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and turned his attention to the old man the Rocket Grunts had been harassing. "Anyway, are you alright?"

"Yes." The old man responded. "Thank you very much for saving me from those ruffians."

"Wait a minute…" Said Yellow, "They just ran back down the tower, but isn't the ghost still there? In fact, how are we supposed to get back down?"

"Don't worry about that." The old man said as he gestured towards a differently colored tile off to the side of the room. "We had this installed just recently. It's a state of the art teleport tile, straight from Silph Corp."

"Wow!" Red did nothing to hide his surprise. "I've heard of these things but I've never seen one in person."

"Follow me." The old man walked towards the teleport tile. "I have something I want to give you as a thank you gift for saving me."

* * *

"Well, this is it." Said as she and Gary stood outside the Lavender Town Gym.

Gary hesitated before entering the light purple colored decrepit old building that looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time. To his surprise, the Gym's interior was lit entirely by candlelight and he could faintly see the form of a short old lady standing in the center, keeping herself propped up with an old, gnarled cane.

"I had a feeling someone would be challenging me today." The old woman said as Gary cautiously approached her. "I am Agatha, the Gym Leader here. And who might you be?"

"I-" Gary's voice cracked as he spoke. "I'm Gary Oak."

"Ah, yes." Agatha muttered to herself. "Oak. I used to train with your grandfather, you know. Sam and I had a rivalry that drove both of us to our limits to try and outdo each other. But that was a very long time ago. Your grandfather decided to pursue a more academic lifestyle, leaving me to train alone. Now, let's see if you have even half of the battle prowess that Sam had at your age."

Agatha tapped her cane against the floor and the shadows around her twisted and turned as a Ghastly rose up from them. Gary grabbed a Pokéball from around his waist and called out his Nidorina. Ghastly's eyes lit up as it used Hypnosis to try and lull Nidorina to sleep, but Nidorina was able to look away just in time and avoid the effects of the move as she rushed forward and used Bite. A dark aura surrounded her jaw as she clamped down her teeth hard on Ghastly's face, which allowed the attack to effect the Ghost-type, who flinched, leaving it open to another Bite.

"If only I could have done this against that ghost." Gary muttered to himself.

Ghastly was able to back away from Nidorina before being hit by a third Bite and attacked with Nightshade. A dark flaming wave of energy radiated from the Gas Pokémon and knocked Nidorina back. Ghastly then sped towards Nidorina to try and use Lick on her, but she was able to prevent it by using another Bite just as it reached her. Ghastly flinched again and Nidorina was able to finish it off with one last Bite.

"Very good." Agatha said as she recalled her Ghastly to its Pokéball. "But just using the same move over and over again isn't a very good strategy in the long run, is it."

She pulled out a black and green Dusk Ball and called out her second Pokémon, a bluish gray ghosy with a string of red pearls around its neck.

"Hey!" Gary called out in anger. "I thought Gym Leaders could only use Pokémon native to the Kanto Region!"

Agatha chuckled back at him. "It is a common mistake to think that Misdreavus cannot be found here, but the truth is that a Ghost can be found anywhere if you know where to look."

"Yeah, whatever."

Misdreavus opened with an Astonish, fading out of view and and reappearing in front of Nidorina with a terrifying face. Nidorina was caught off guard by the attack and was stunned long enough for Misdreavus to follow it up with a Psywave, blasting Nidorina back. Nidorina quickly got back up to its feet and launched a Poison Sting from its mouth. The tiny purple dart struck Misdreavus right int eh center pearl of its necklace inflicted it with poison.

Misdreavus tried to use Astonish again, but this time Nidorina was prepared and used Bite as it appeared in front of her, leaving Misdreavus stunned long enough for another Bite. Misdreavus backed away and started floating in circles around Nidorina.

"That Bite of yours is becoming quite the nuisance." Agatha said. "Let's fix that, shall we? Spite!"

A shockwave flew out from Misdreavus. At first it didn't seem like the shockwave did anything, but then Misdreavus flew back within Nidorina's range and she tried to get it with another Bite, but the dark aura didn't appear and her teeth passed harmlessly though Misdreavus and her jaw clamped together as if there were nothing there.

"What will you do now?" Agatha taunted Gary.

"More Poison Sting, obviously."

Nidorina launched another purple dart from her mouth which stuck Misdreavus exactly where the first one had. The Screech Pokémon was now showing signs of fatique, which Nidorina took as an opportunity for another Poison Sting. As the dart hit Misdreavus' pearl, it began to crack and Misdreavus fell to the floor.

"That was better than I was expecting, but there is no way you will be able to defeat my final Pokémon."

"We'll see about that." Gary remarked.

Agatha recalled Misdreavus and sent out a Haunter. Meanwhile, Gary swapped out his own Nidorian for his Wartortle. Haunter attacked Wartortle with a Sucker Punch, its hand moving through the air independently from its body and striking Wartortle right in the face before he could react. Wartortle shot a furious look at Haunter as the evolved Gas Pokémon's hand returned to it and used Bubble. A stream of water bubbles shot out of Wartortle's mouth and struck Haunter, slowing down its movements. Haunter tried to swoop in closer to hit Wartortle with a Shadow Punch, but just as it was about to get in range, Wartortle jumped up and used Bite.

"You just love that move, don't you." Agatha said bitterly.

AS Wartortle fell back down to the gorund, he retreated into his shell with Withdraw. Haunter hit the shell with Shadow Punch, but was unable to do much. As Wartortle hit the ground, a Water Gun shot out from his shell and hit Haunter, causing it to drop down closer to the ground and leaving it open for Wartortle to jump forward and get it with another Bite. Haunter flinched, leaving it open to another Bite, and the battle was won.

"You did a lot better than I was expecting." Agatha said. "Perhaps there is still hope for the Oak family after all. Take this Spectre Badge. You've earned it after all."

Gary took the badge, which resembled a dark gray Yin-Yang symbol.

"Thanks." He said as he turned to walk away. As he left the Gym with Kat, he turned to his cousin. "Did you know about her and Grandpa?"

"No." Kat answered. "I've never actually met Agatha before and I've never heard Grandpa mention him. It was definitely news to me."

"Huh." Gary shrugged. "I mean, I knew he was a trainer at one point, but I've never really thought about it before. I wonder if he had any other rivals."

"Who knows? Maybe we should ask him when we get the chance."

"No thanks. It's not really all that important."

"Yeah, you may feel that way, but I want to learn more. I'm going to get Grampa to tell me about his time as a trainer whenever we finally get back home."


	53. Chapter 53

The Teleport Tile sent Red, Yellow and the old man directly to the first floor of the Pokémon Tower and from there the old man led the two kids to a nearby building.

"This is the Volunteer Pokémon House." The old man said as he opened the front door. "I opened this place up many years ago as a place to take care of abandoned Pokémon."

Several Pokémon were scattered around the house, enjoying themselves. On the far side from the entrance, a girl around Red's age was tending to an injured Cubone.

"This is Reina. She's our only volunteer here at the moment, but she does more than enough work to make up for that."

"Thank you, Mr. Fuji, but I just do what I can." Reina blushed as she accepted the compliment.

"Though I suppose you two would be more interested in hearing about Cubone. You see, that Cubone is the son of the Marowak ghost that you encountered up in the tower."

Red and Yellow weren't sure what to make of this revelation.

"Not too long ago a group of evil-hearted Team Rocket members attacked and killed Cubone's mother. When we found them shortly afterward, we took Cubone in and made sure that Marowak had a proper burial in the tower, but then her spirit started to haunt the floor she was buried in and attacking everyone in sight. I went up there to try and calm her down, but then those three you fought showed up and only agitated her spirit further, trapping us on the top floor."

"Wait, you were attacked?" Reina gasped.

"I will explain later." Mr. Fuji told her before turning his attention back to Red and Yellow. "Now I'm afraid I will have to go up there again to calm her down, but in the meantime, I wanted to give you a gift for saving me."

Mr. Fuji walked over to a nearby set of drawers and picked up a small case and some sort of wooden flute. He then walked back to them and handed the flute to Yellow.

"This is a Pokéflute. They say that the sound it makes is capable of waking up any sleeping Pokémon." He then turned to Red and handed him the small black case. Red opened it up to find a small black bracelet and some sort of marble that shone blue and yellow as light reflected off of it. "I don't know for sure what this is, but I feel that it will come in handy for you at some point."

"We can't take these." Red insisted.

"Nonsense! I'm giving them to you because I want you to have them. Are you really going to turn down an old man's generous offer like this?"

"I-I guess not." Red said.

"Good. Now, I wish you the best of luck in your travels!"

* * *

Daisy and Giselle were just reaching the outskirts of Celadon City when they found their path blocked by two men on motorcycles.

"Now what do we have here?" One of the men mockingly asked the other. He was a thin man with a spiked Mohawk and a brown leather coat. "Yo, Cue Ball, what do you make of this?"

"Looks like a couple kids trying to make their way past our turf." The other man said. He was a very heavyset man with a black vest and his head was cleanly shaven to the point where light reflected off of it as if his scalp were made of glass.

"That's what I thought." The first biker said. "But surely no one would be that stupid, right?"

"Not unless they want a beatin'." 'Cue Ball' agreed.

"Get out of our way." Giselle ordered the two bikers.

"Oh, this girl thinks she can just go and order us around like we're her servants or something. Well, guess what, girlie: The Gyarados Gang down's take orders from nobody!"

Giselle smirked. "That's a double negative, which means that you do take orders from somebody. And I guess right now that somebody would be me."

"Why you little-" The first man said, gritting his teeth. "Come on, Cue Ball, it's time we teach these two a lesson on respecting their elders."

"I guess this will be our first team battle." Giselle said to Daisy. "Two rivals teaming up to fight off a common enemy. It's almost poetic, don't you think."

Daisy, who had been looking on in horror as Giselle had somehow managed to make a bad situation even worse for them, meanly sighed as she pulled out one of her Pokéballs.

* * *

"What do you think it does?" Yellow asked Red as the made their way out of Lavender Town. Red had put the bracelet on his right wrist and was examining it closely.

"I'm not sure." Red answered as he pulled out the marble-like object. He held the strange gemstone up to the bracelet and noticed there was a small opening just large enough to put the marble in. He inserted the marble into the bracelet and found that it fit perfectly.

"It looks good on you." Yellow smiled.

"Yeah, but I'm sure there's more to this thing than just a fashion accessory. Oh, well. We'll figure it out eventually I guess."

The two continued walking in silence as they made their way along Route 8 until eventually Yellow turned to Red.

"I think someone's following us." She said to him.

Red turned around and saw that there was indeed someone following them. A young woman with long purple hair that Red recognized as the woman that had been asking Yellow about ghosts yesterday.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked her.

"No, not really." She replied.

"Then why are you following us?"

"Oh, no reason. I was bored and thought you looked interesting. I thought that if I went with you for a while, something might happen."

"Well, you can't just follow someone around without their permission." Red said.

"Alright then. Can I go with you for the time being?"

Red thought for a moment, but couldn't really think of a good reason to say no. "Um, sure, I guess. At least until we get to Saffron."

"Oh, good." The woman clapped her hands together.

"I'm Yellow and this is Red." Yellow greeted the girl. "What's your name?"

"You may call me Sable."

* * *

"How much longer do we have to go?" Misty whined as she, Ash, Carmine and Brock continued to make their way through the sewer tunnel they had become trapped in.

"Who knows?" Brock answered. "We don't even know where we are right now. We might not even be in Kanto right now."

"In fact, it was a ghost that sent us here, so for all we know we're actually stuck in the Distortion World for all eternity." Carmine joked.

"That's not funny." Misty said angrily.

"I'm just messing with you. According to the map on my Pokégear, we're somewhere between Lavender Town and Saffron City, heading towards Saffron."

"Wait, you've had that the entire time?" Misty asked. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"No one asked." Carmine replied. "Besides, it's not like this thing will tell us where the sewer exit is. I can't make a call from down here."

"But can you at least tell us how far much longer we have to go until we reach Saffron City?" Ash asked. "There should be some way out over there."

"It shouldn't be too much further. Although it's hard to tell because I lost the signal for the map a little while ago."

"Well, this is just great." Misty said, "Just when we get some sort of hope about knowing when we're getting out of this stupid place, it just goes away. We're going to be down here for the rest of our lives, aren't we?"

"Don't be ridiculous. There was to be a way out somewhere and we're going to-"

"Going to what?" Ash asked as Carmine didn't finish his sentence. When no reply came, Ash turned around to see Carmine, Misty and Brock all standing still. Something seemed off about their eyes. Ash started to walk back to them, but just as he took the first step, suddenly a loud chattering sound echoed through the tunnel and he, Pika and Volty all had to cover their ears to try and block out the horrible noise. He tried to yell over the deafening noise, though of course no answer came. Ash turned around again and saw ten glowing eyes come into view ahead of him as the shadowy silhouettes of some unknown Pokémon made their way closer to him.


	54. Chapter 54

Daisy and Giselle stood with their Ivysaur and Cubone, respectively. Across from them, the two bikers had sent out a Grimer and a Weezing. Daisy waited for their opponents to make the first move so that she could counter them, but Giselle was the first to act.

"Bonemerang!"

Cubone tossed its bone club at Weezing. The impact of the attack knocked Weezing to the ground where was then hit by a Vine Whip from Ivysaur. Grimer tried to help its ally by distracting Cubone and Ivysaur with a Sludge attack, launching a poisonous blood from its mouth at Cubone. Cubone dodged to the side and tossed another Bonemerang. This one struck Grimer head-on, but the bone became stuck in Grimer's gooey body, making Cubone unable to retrieve it.

"That was a miscalculation." Giselle said as she bit her thumb lightly in frustration.

"Hold on, I have an idea." Daisy said to her. "Ivysaur, use cut on that small tree over there!"

Ivysaur looked over to where Daisy was motioning and saw a small sapling growing out of the ground. She launched a Razor Leaf at the base of the tree which cut cleanly through it. Giselle was confused by this at first at first but quickly realized what Daisy was doing and ordered her Cubone to retrieve the fallen sapling. The baby tree was larger and heavier than the bone it was used to wielding, but that did not stop Cubone from putting the makeshift weapon to good use. Cubone smacked Weezing back into the ground just as the Poison Gas Pokémon had lifted itself back up. Ivysaur Tackled Koffing and sent it rolling straight into Grimer, knocking Cubone's club out of its ooze. Cubone grabbed its club off the ground and used Focus Energy before smacking Weezing with both weapons. The force of the blow shook through Weezing and into Grimer, knocking them both out.

"Well, well, well." Giselle said tauntingly at the two bikers. "And who was supposed to be teaching whom a lesson here?"

"Why you little…" Cue Ball started to say before his speech gave haw to unintelligible angry gibberish.

"You may have gotten lucky this time," the other biker said, "but if we ever see your faces around these parts again, you will rue the day you ever messed with the Gyarados Gang!"

The two recalled their Pokémon and rode off furiously.

"And here I thought they'd at least be a challenge." Giselle said before turning to Daisy. "Nice thinking, with the tree club idea. I hate to say this, but it looks like we actually might make a good team after all."

"Wait, does that mean you didn't think we'd work well together?" Daisy asked.

"Not at all. Now come on, let's go."

* * *

Ash took several steps back as the heavily shadowed figured continued their approach towards him. He didn't know what they were and he wasn't particularly interested in waiting around to find out, but he wasn't about to abandon his friends either. Carmine, Misty and Brock remained motionless as if being held in place by something and Ash quickly realized that Pika and Volty had frozen up now as well.

"Now what do I do?" Ash asked aloud.

"That's up to you." Ash jumped as Ghastly suddenly appeared next to him but before he could say anything else, the creatures came into view.

"Are those… Raticate?" Ash wondered in surprise.

"Don't be fooled." Ghastly said. "They may look like normal Raticate at first, but they are more than that. That's a Raticate King."

"What?"

"When a Raticate's tail gets tangled up with another's, their minds become momentarily linked until they can be separated. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but when five Raticate manage to get their tails together at once they become what is known as a Raticate King. Legends say that they gain powerful psychic powers in the process and no longer have the ability to be safely be removed from each other."

"I've never heard of that before." Ash said as the Raticate King came closer. Ash could now see the knot in their tails that connected them.

"I'm not surprised. To my knowledge, a Raticate King has not surfaced in hundreds of years. This is a troubling turn of events indeed."

"So are they preventing the others from moving?"

"It would look that way. I appear to be unaffected due to my Ghost-typing, but I have no idea why you are not affected by their control."

"Well, we don't really have time to think about that right now. Use Shadow Ball to fend them off."

"I'm afraid I haven't fully regained all of my energy from the banishment spell earlier." Ghastly said. "I don't think I have enough strength for that right now, but I'll see what I can do."

Ghastly spread its gaseous body towards the Raticate King as it approached. The Raticate King stopped as it inhaled the poisonous fumes, coughing violently. Ash tried to come up with a plan while it was distracted but could only think of one thing to do.

"Pokéball, go!" He tossed the small red and white ball at the Raticate King with as much force as he could muster, but the Pokéball merely bounced harmlessly off of it.

"That won't be nearly enough." Ghastly explained. "A Raticate King isn't going to be captured by just a regular Pokéball."

"Noted." Ash said, looking around desperately for something else as the Raticate King resumed its steady approach towards them. After a moment, he ran up to Carmine and started rifling through his bag. He pulled out what he was looking for just as the Raticate King finally caught up to him and pounced. There was a flash of yellow light and the Raticate King was gone, leaving Ash lying on the floor, clutching an Ultra Ball tightly in hand as the others regained movement around him.

"Guys!" He yelled at them. "You'll never believe what just happened!"

"We already know." Carmine responded. "And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't go through my stuff without permission."

Ash blushed as Pika and Volty hopped back up onto his shoulders. "Sorry, it was the only thing I could think of."

"I know. That's why I'm going to let you keep that thing."

* * *

Gary walked into the Lavender Pokémon Center after defeating Agatha. Mal, Ciel and Sue were all still sitting in the lounge area as he approached the front desk.

"Hello and welcome to the Lavender Town Pokémon Center!" The nurse said joyfully. "May I heel your Pokémon?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Gary said unenthusiastically as he placed his Pokéballs on the tray she was holding out to him. He turned back as she put the tray into the healing machine beside her. Kat walked in after him and met up with the others. Meanwhile, a strange woman with bushy purple hair walked up to Gary.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" She asked him.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason."

The woman left without another word as Gary turned back to the nurse to get his Pokémon back.

"Here you go. We hope to see you again!"

Gary gave the nurse a half-hearted grin as he walked left to go meet up with his cheerleaders. The strange woman had walked over to the opposite side of the Pokémon Center and was staring at Gary. He gave her a sour look before turning to the others.

"Alright, I'm all done here. Let's get going before we all get haunted or something."

"Sounds good to me!" Mal said as she stood up. "Come on girls, we're finally getting out of this place."

"You know we haven't been here for more than a few hours, right?" Gary pointed out.

"And that's still too long." Said Ciel. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Where are we going next, anyway?" Sue asked.

"I say we head north to Rock Tunnel." Kat suggested.

"Why would we go that way? Gary asked her. "Wouldn't that just take us back around to Cerulean? Why would we want to go back there?"

"Because there's another Gym Leader there." She explained. "Like Agatha, he tends to keep to himself so most Trainers don't realize he's there, but it's not that far, so you might as well challenge him and get another Gym over with."

"I guess I can't argue with that logic." Gary said, then realized something. "But wait a minute, don't all Gyms need to be in a city or town?"

"That's a common misconception. Most Gyms are in major settlements to make them more accessible, but it's not actually a rule. It's one of the major reason most trainers don't realize this Gym Leader is there."


	55. Chapter 55

Ash stared at the Ultra Ball in his hand as he continued to make his way through the sewers. The others followed him closely, ready to finally find the exit and make their way back to the surface.

"What are you going to do with that thing anyway?" Carmine asked Ash.

"I'm not sure. I don't know if the Raticate King counts as a single Pokémon or five. For all I know, just having this thing brings me over the maximum Pokémon Team limit and I can forget actually trying to use it in official battles."

"If you were able to catch it with just the one Ultra Ball, then it counts as only a single Pokémon, somehow. Although I'm not sure if I'd want to use that thing if I were you."

"Why not?" Ash asked as he put the Ultra Ball back along his belt.

"I've dealt with powerful and unusual Pokémon like that before." He absently held up a Heavy Ball from his own belt and stared at the gray and blue sphere. "From what I've seen, the best thing to do is to simply make sure that they stay under control. When you become a powerful enough trainer, you should be able to train it but even then it should probably only be a last resort."

"Wait, what Pokémon do you have in there?" Brock asked curiously.

"It's none of your business." Carmine put the Heavy Ball back down around his waist.

"I think I see an exit!" Misty yelled excitedly, pointing over to a hatch on the ceiling just ahead of them with a ladder leading up to it. "We can finally get out of this stupid place!"

* * *

"Celadon City!" Squirtle shouted out dramatically as the city's skyline came into view. "Or at least it should be, anyway. I'm not sure where else it would be."

"You know, this is going much faster than I thought it would." Zoroark said.

"That's probably because we haven't really been doing anything else. If we were actually training between Gym battles or even just had other stuff come up, I'm sure this would take much longer."

"We'll train when we need to train!" Said Squirtle. "But for now we seem to be doing fine without it."

"But how long do you think it will take before we reach that point?" Charmander asked.

I'd say right after this Gym, actually. Once we have three Gym Badges the Gym Leaders are going to start using three Pokémon each, which will make things much harder for us."

"Well, we have three Pokémon ready to fight, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal."

"Yes, but we have to keep type matchups in mind. Also, it will get even harder once we get to the point where the Gym Leaders will be using full teams of six Pokémon."

"Wait, what?" Charmander was thrown off guard by this. "How are we supposed to put up with that?"

"That's actually rather simple, my friend. We just have to get that strong. After all, the whole point of our mission is to prove ourselves as the strongest this land has ever seen."

"I thought we were just proving that we don't need trainers." Bulbasaur pointed out.

"And looking for my son." Zoroark added.

"Okay, so I guess we each have our own personal reasons for doing this, but the point still stands. If we do not become strong enough to do this, then we will never be able to accomplish our goals. Except you, Zoroark. Strength shouldn't have anything to do with finding your son."

"But we'll need to fight that monstrous woman who kidnapped him."

"I stand corrected. Anyway, onward towards our next victory!"

* * *

The roads of Saffron City were uncharacteristically quiet as a lone manhole cover was lifted up from the ground and Ash, Misty, Brock and Carmine crawled up onto the empty street.

"Finally!" Misty said with a sigh of relief as she laid back onto the cold, hard pavement. "I never want to see another sewer as long as I live."

"We do seem to have a strange habit of ending up stuck in dark confined spaces." Brock pointed out.

"Well, I guess we should head over to the nearest Pokémon Center and rest up, right Carmine? Carmine?" Ash looked over at the older trainer and saw that he was looking around at the surrounding area. "What's wrong?"

"We're in the middle of a road in the largest city in the region in the middle of the afternoon." Carmine muttered. "This whole area should be teaming with people, which brings up the important question, where is everyone."

"He's right." Brock said. "I can't see anyone around here."

"Maybe it has something to do with why the city has been blocked off for so long?" Misty suggested.

"But that just brings us back to why the entire city would be shut down. That's not something that just happens unless there's some kind of major disaster going on."

"Okay, let's just keep calm and head to the Pokémon Center." Ash said. "If there's someone there, we can ask them what's going on. If there isn't for some reason, we can at least rest for a bit."

"I'm up for that." Misty said as the group began making their way down the road. "I feel like we've been walking non-stop for hours now."

"That's probably because we have been." Carmine sighed.

* * *

"Well, it looks like we're taking the Underground Tunnel to Celadon." Red said as he, Yellow and Sable stood outside the closed off gateway leading into Saffron City. "I really thought they'd be open by now. How does an entire city get shut down, anyway?"

"Something dark is stirring in there." Sable said ominously. "It's for the best that we don't enter there."

"Okay…" Red wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Anyway, let's head back to the tunnel."

"We can use Abraham to get through it quickly like we did last time." Yellow said as they turned around and started heading over to the entrance way they had passed by just a few minute earlier.

"Although it is starting to get dark." Red noticed. "We should probably camp out here for the night before we head down there."

"Sure!" Yellow said cheerily. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Whatever you say." Sable said dryly. "Though I was hoping we'd be able to do something more interesting."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, just something."

"Well, we're camping for the night outside the entrance to the Underground Path." Red said. "And then in the morning, we'll use Teleport to get across to Celadon as quickly as we can. If you want something to do, there should be plenty available there."

"I guess that works." Sable relented.

"Great. Although I just remembered that I still only have one sleeping bag."

"That's fine. I don't really need one anyway."

"And here we are." Yellow said as the three walked up to a small building along the side of the route.

"I suppose we should set up camp now, then." Red pulled out his sleeping back and handed it to Yellow, who laid it down on the ground. "I'm going to go gather some wood for a fire. Do you want to help, Sable?"

The strange woman was looking off into the distance, up at the treetops. "What? Oh, no. I'm good."

"What are you looking at?" Yellow asked her.

"Nothing. I just thought that I… uh… heard something. It's nothing."

* * *

"Finally." Pikachu thought to herself as she once again felt Yellow's presence nearby. "I thought I had lost her for good, but now she should be just up ahead."

Pikachu jumped from treetop to treetop as she felt the presence grow closer and closer. Soon she felt Abraham's presence enter her mind as well."

"What took you so long?" She asked him.

"Sorry. I've just been distracted lately by stuff that's happened. I'll give you the details later."

"What kind of stuff."

"We had a run-in with a ghost and now we have a new person with us."

"What?" Pikachu couldn't hide her shock.

"Yeah. Not really sure what to make of her, though. She's been acting kind of off and she seems to be able to shield herself from my telepathic abilities so that I can't read her mind. But at the same time, she hasn't really done anything yet to suggest she's hostile or dangerous and there's something about her that just seems… familiar."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but I guess you'll see what I mean in just a moment."


	56. Chapter 56

"Hello?" Ash called out as he walked into the Pokémon Center, which seemed to be as deserted as the streets outside. "I guess there's no one here, either."

He headed over to a coach situated on the right-hand side of the room and sat himself down, relieved to finally rest for a while. Misty and Brock both sat down as well. Carmine, on the other hand, walked straight to the counter where a nurse would normally be standing by to heal trainer's Pokémon.

"I'm going to see if I can find any clues as to what's going on." He said as he hopped over the counter. "Stay there until I get back."

"That shouldn't be a problem!" Ash yelled back to him.

"And for the love of Lugia, keep your voices down. We have no idea what could be listening."

Carmine walked back and knocked lightly on the first door he passed before checking to find nothing but empty rooms. Eventually, he reached the last door and knocked on it. He thought he heard a faint shuffling noise come from the other side. He opened the door slowly and immediately had to duck down to avoid an Egg Bomb aimed directly at his egg.

"S-stay back." A panicked-looking nurse sat on the floor on the opposite end of the room beside an angry Chansey that was ready to toss another Egg Bomb.

"I'm not here to hurt you." Carmine said a reassuringly as he could while holding his hands up to show his lack of violent intent. "I just want to know what's going on here."

"How could you possibly not know that?" The nurse asked, surprised.

"My traveling companions and I have just arrived here."

"That's impossible. The entire city is blocked off."

"I know. We had an unfortunate trip through the sewers that lead us just a few blocks away from here. If you don't believe me, then the smell should probably be enough proof."

Both the nurse and Chansey took big sniffs and immediately recoiled.

"Now," Carmine continued, "What exactly is going on here."

"They took over the city." The nurse said frantically.

"Who took over the city?" Carmine asked.

"They blocked off all the exits and forced everyone into their homes." The woman was becoming more and more panicked as she recalled the events of what happened, not even hearing Carmine's words. "All communications have been cut off so that we can't get help."

"But who did this." Carmine grabbed the nurse by her arms and held her tightly, trying to snap her out of her panic.

"T-Team… Team Rocket."

Carmine released his grip and both he and the nurse slumped down onto the floor.

"Team Rocket did all of this?" Carmine asked absently.

"Yes, but they weren't alone. They had help."

"From who?"

"Sabrina."

* * *

"Welcome to the Celadon Gym. My name is Erika and I am the Gym Leader here." Erika introduced herself as Zoroark and Charmander approached her.

"I'm Zahira," Zoroark said, "and I'm here to challenge you to a Gym Battle."

"Very good then." Erika smiled. "I'll just pull out my Pokémon then, shall I?"

Erika grabbed a Pokéball out from underneath the sash of her kimono and called out her Tangela as Charmander readied himself for battle.

"Let the battle commence." Erika said as Tangela lifted up a pair of dark blue vines from its body in preparation to attack.

Charmander let out an Ember as Tangela's vines swung down, forcing the Vine Pokémon to abandon its Vine Whip attack and use Ingrain instead, growing roots down into the soil below to steadily regain health. Charmander charged toward its now immobile opponent and hit it with a Scratch attack. Tangela retaliated with a Vine Whip, knocking Charmander back, but Charmander hit Tangela with an Ember as he fell and caused some of Tangela's vines to catch on fire.

Tangela started flailing itself around in an attempt to put out the flames, leaving itself open to another Ember, which caused Tangela to fall over. The flames were put out as Tangela hit the ground but it also severed the roots of Tangela's Ingrain. Charmander hit it with another Ember as Tangela got back up and then slapped Charmander hard with a Vine Whip and knocked him down. As Charmander got back up onto his feet, Tangela grabbed him with its vines and tightly squeezed him with Constrict.

Charmander tried to hit Tangela with another Ember but was unable to take a deep enough breath to launch the attack. After a couple minutes, Tangela released its grip and slammed Charmander into the ground. Charmander forced himself up with great effort and let out one final Ember, which hit Tangela but was not strong enough to defeat the Grass-type.

Both Pokémon were now physically exhausted and the battle has no a matter of seeing who would land the next blow. Tangela sent out one of its vines to his Charmander again, but Charmander was able to use Scratch to stop the vine before it hit him. Tangela tried again several more times, but Charmander was able to stop the attack each time until finally Tangela's strength gave out and it collapsed.

"Congratulations!" Erika said as she recalled Tangela and walked over to Zoroark. "Here's your Rainbow Badge!"

Zoroark took the badge and picked up Charmander, heading out of the Gym. When she exited the building, Squirtle and Bulbasaur were there waiting for them.

"How did it go?" Bulbasaur asked.

"We won, just barely." Zoroark said as she lowered Charmander onto the ground.

"I'm surprised I even managed to hold out as long enough to win. If the battle had gone on just a few seconds longer I probably would have lost." Charmander said as Squirtle handed him an Oran Berry that he accepted graciously and downed in one gulp. "Oh, that's much better. I can already feel my energy coming back."

"Well, it sounds like we should probably start training now to make sure we can stand up to stronger opponents." Squirtle said. "It will only get harder from here and we can no longer rely on just our base strength."

"Weren't we just talking about that this morning?" Bulbasaur asked.

* * *

"Sabrina?" Carmine tried to make sure that he heard that right. "You mean a Gym Leader has joined forces with Team Rocket?"

"Yes." The nurse confirmed. "Well, sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't witness what happened first hand, so I only have rumors to go off of. From what I've heard it sounds like Sabrina confronted Team Rocket when they arrived but was defeated and knocked unconscious by a mysterious woman who wore a white mask over half of her face. Team Rocket then took her away, only for her to come back several days later working for them. No one knows why he would have joined them."

Carmine remembered their confrontation with the masked woman back in Mt. Moon. He hadn't noticed anything particularly off about her besides the half-mask, but Ash had seen something about her which was enough to make Looker worried. He still wasn't sure what that meant, but it couldn't be good.

"Well, there's nothing we can really do about that now. Is it okay if my companions and I stay here for a while to freshen up before we head out?"

"Uh, of course. This is still a Pokémon Center after all."

"Thank you. I'll let them know and we'll try to see if there's anything to do to help."

With that, Carmine left the room and headed back to the entrance, leaving the nurse and Chansey behind. He wasn't sure what to make of the current situation. A hostile takeover of an entire city seemed wildly out of character for Giovanni, so what was he planning? And how did they manage to recruit a Gym Leader? Carmine tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind as he made his way back to the front counter.

"There's a lot we need to talk about." He said as he hopped back over the counter. "Team Rocket is here and-"

The nurse walked up to the counter in case anyone needed to heal their Pokémon, just in time to see Carmine clench his fists tightly as he looked angrily at the empty couch.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him.

"I told them not to leave." Carmine said behind gritted teeth. "So what did they do? They left, of course."

"Oh no." The nurse gasped.

"It's all right." Carmine turned back to her. "They should be able to handle themselves for the time being so long as they don't draw attention to themselves and I'm going to go find them." He took a brief sniff. "Right after I take a quick shower."


	57. Chapter 57

"This is it." Kat said as Mal pulled up the car outside the southern entrance to Rock Tunnel. "The Gym Leader should be right in there."

"What kind of Gym Leader operates from inside a cave?" Gary asked her as he got out of the car. "Is there even an actual Gym here?"

"There used to be one right over there, actually." Kat pointed to the nearby cliff face. "It was destroyed in a landslide not too long ago. It was just a few weeks after I came here during my Pokémon journey, actually. I haven't heard when they plan on rebuilding it but the leader has been staying in the cave for now."

"You do know that there's a difference between a tunnel and a cave, right?" Ciel asked.

Both Gary and Kat glared at her, causing Ciel to back away behind her sister, Mal.

"Anyway," Gary said. "Let's get going."

Gary walked over to the tunnel entrance and stepped inside. It was dark inside Rock Tunnel but enough light filtered in through the entranceway that he was able to see. Kat, Mal, Ciel and Sue all went in after him so that they could cheer him on during his battle.

"So where is this supposed Gym Leader supposed to be, anyway?" Gary asked, seeing that the tunnel appeared to be completely empty.

"He should be in here somewhere." Kat said.

Gary sighed and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, hoping that this wasn't just some wild Farfetch'd chase. He thought that the wall seemed unusually cold and smooth, almost like metal when suddenly it began to shake. Gary had to back away from the wall as it shifted and began sliding rapidly along. It continued moving for several minutes before finally the disappearing and revealing the small candle-lit opening behind it. A large highly-muscled man with long, dark bushy hair sat there, deep in meditation.

Gary took a cautious step towards the man, who immediately stood up onto his feet. The large man towered over Gary and the others as he opened his eyes and looked down at Gary.

"You are here for a Gym Battle." It wasn't a question. "Come, we shall do battle outside."

The man walked right past Gary towards the entrance to the cave and motioned over his shoulder for Gary to follow him. Gary did so hesitantly and they all exited the cave.

"I am Bruno." The large man said as he turned around to face Gary. "I am the Fighting-type specialist of the Kanto Gym Leaders and member of the Elite Four."

"My name is Gary Oak." Gary said, is confidence returning as the shock of the cave moving and Bruno's sudden appearance wore off. "I'm an up and coming trainer who already has five badges and I'm about to earn my sixth."

"Very well, then this will be a six-on-six Pokémon battle that will begin… NOW!"

Bruno suddenly tossed a Pokémon to the ground, sending out his first Pokémon, Primeape. Gary barely had time to react by sending out his own Pokémon, Exeggcute. Gary had just recently added Exeggcute to his team and had not had time to properly train it, or rather them, yet but the six egg-like heads that formed Exeggcute were part Psychic-type, giving them a type advantage against Bruno's Fighting Pokémon.

"Primeape! Use Crosschop!"

The Pig Monkey Pokémon charged up to Exeggcute with its arms crossed in an X-shape and swung them together, hitting Exeggcute from both sides. The six heads were scattered around by the attack, making it so that Primeape wasn't sure which one to target with its next attack, giving Exeggcute enough time to attack themselves. Each of the heads pelted Primeape with a barrage of Bullet Seeds, hitting it from every direction. This proved to make the Primeape angrier as it used its Rage attack to increase its attack power with every hit. As soon as it found an opening, Primeape charged one of Exeggcute's heads and hit it with all of its strength. The other five heads didn't like to see one of their own get attacked and switched up their attack pattern, blasting waves of Confusion at it instead. The Psychic attacks were Super Effective against Primeape, who was knocked out.

Bruno recalled Primeape as Exeggcute regrouped and gathered themselves back up together. Bruno sent out his next Pokémon, Hitmonchan. The boxing Pokémon assumed a defensive position as Exeggcute started spitting Bullet Seeds at it. After blocking the seeds with its boxing-glove-like hands, Hitmonchan dashed to the side and came up close to Exeggcute, hitting them with a Fire Punch. Exeggcute retaliated with Confusion but it was not enough to defeat Hitmonchan, who knocked Exeggcute out with another Fire Punch.

Gary recalled Exeggcute back to their Pokéball and sent out his next Pokémon. Growlithe was another new addition to his team, but he had it for a little longer and was confident in its abilities. The Fire-type puppy Pokémon have a small howl as it Leered at its opponent, causing Hitmonchan to lower its defense slightly as Growlithe ran up to it and bit Hitmonchan in the leg with its Fire Fang move. The attack burned Hitmonchan who knocked Growlithe away with a Close Combat attack. Before Growlithe could pick itself back up, Hitmonchan hit it again with Mach Punch. Growlithe then used Flame Burst, launching a large fireball from its mouth which split apart midair into several streams of fire that struck Hitmonchan and the area directly around it. Hitmonchan used Mach Punch again, quickly striking the Fire-type before it could react and knocked it out. But before Gary could send out his next Pokémon, Hitmonchan collapsed as well due to its burn.

Gary sent out his Nidorino while Bruno called out a Hitmonlee. The Kicking Pokémon leaped high up into the air as soon as it touched the ground and came falling back down with one of its coiled up legs outstretched to his Nidorino with a High Jump Kick. Nidorino was able to side-jump out of the way just in time, however, causing Hitmonlee to injure itself as it crashed into the ground. Nidorino then rammed into Hitmonlee with a Peck attack, followed up with a Poison Jab. Hitmonlee stood back up with great effort and hit Nidorino with a Double Kick, knocking him onto his side, before using High Jump Kick again and this time hitting Nidorino with enough force to knock him out.

Gary recalled his Nidorino and sent out his Nidorina, who immediately hit Hitmonlee with a Double Kick of her own and following up the attack with a Poison Sting. Hitmonlee tried to hit Nidorina with a Mega Kick, but missed and opened itself up to another Double Kick, knocking it out.

Bruno then sent out his fourth Pokémon, Hitmontop, who spun around on the point on top of its head and knocked Nidorina down with a Triple Kick. Unfortunately for Hitmontop, it happened to hit one of her poisonous spikes in the process and was inflicted with Poison. Nidorina got back up again and hit Hitmontop with a simple Scratch attack, which was enough to knock Hitmontop off balance and make it fall down. Nidorina then hit Hitmontop with a Double Kick before it could get back up again and was able to dodge a Close Combat attack from Hitmontop before it jumped back onto its head and started spinning again. Nidorina tried to dodge another Rolling Kick, but was unable to get out of the way and was struck by the attack. Before Hitmontop could follow up with another attack, however, Nidorina was able to hit it with another Double Kick which, when combined with the damage it had already taken and the poison slowly sapping away its health, was enough to knock out Hitmonchan.

Bruno was down to his last two Pokémon now, while Gary still had three, placing him in the lead for the time being. Bruno sent out his second-to-last Pokémon, Machoke. The Superpower Pokémon stared down at Nidorina while flexing its massive muscles. Its biceps were thicker than Gary's head.

"You are doing very well so far." Bruno said to Gary. "Certainly better than most who try to face me, at any rate. Keep this up and you should be able to defeat me without any problem."

"Yeah." Gary replied. "Like there was ever a problem to begin with."


	58. Chapter 58

"Machoke! Use Seismic Toss!" Bruno ordered his Pokémon.

Bruno's Machoke grabbed Nidorina and lifted her up. Nidorina tried to use Fury Swipes to get Machoke to release its grip but struggling only made it squeeze tighter. Machoke then jumped up into the air and did a backflip before slamming Nidorina into the ground. Nidorina got back on her feet as Machoke landed back on the ground, holding onto its left arm, which had been scratched by one of Nidorina's spikes. Machoke gave out a howl as its arms suddenly glowed green and he hit Nidorina with a Dual Chop. Nidorina retaliated by jumping at Machoke and using Bite on its leg, holding on with its teeth as she then used Double Kick on the other leg, knocking him down.

Machoke looked furious as it kicked its right leg out in a Low Sweep attack and knocked Nidorina over. Nidorina then used Toxic Spikes, sending out a spray of poisoned bards around the battlefield. Machoke stood back up again as Nidorina charged towards it for another attack. Just as Nidorina was just about to hit with another Double Kick, Machoke assumed a defensive position and started to glow yellow. After the attack hit, Machoke's glow disappeared and he hit Nidorina with a powerful Revenge attack. Nidorina tried to get back up after the hit, but it proved too much and she collapsed.

"Good job, Nidorina." Gary said as he recalled her back into her Pokéball. It was unusual for him to compliment his Pokémon but she was growing on him and had become one of his favorite members of his team. "Alright, now let's finish this Wartortle!"

Gary's starter Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball ready to battle. Machoke ran up to the Turtle Pokémon, ready to hit him with a Karate Chop but before he could get in range for the attack, Wartortle sent out a Water Pulse which disoriented Machoke and caused him to trip and fall to the ground. Wasting no time, Wartortle sprayed a blast of Water Gun at Machoke, knocking it out.

Bruno recalled Machoke and sent out his final Pokémon, Machoke's evolved form, Machamp. The four-armed musclebound gray Pokémon landed straight onto the Toxic Spikes that Nidorina had left behind and became inflicted with their poison. Wartortle then jumped up and used Withdraw to retreat into its shell before it slammed into Machamp's chest with a Rapid Spin attack. Machamp used a Karate Chop to smash Wartortle into the ground, but it didn't do very much damage because Wartortle was still inside of his shell.

Wartortle flipped itself forward and sprayed a Water Gun straight into the ground, sending himself flying upwards and then crashing back down right above Machamp's head. The attempt at a makeshift attack failed, however, as Machamp easily caught Wartortle with two of its hands. Machamp's two free hands then lit up green and he hit Wartortle with a Dual Chop before jumping up and using Seismic Toss. Fortunately for Wartortle, he was able to use Protect to avoid taking any damage from the Seismic Toss. Wartortle finally got back out of its shell and stood up, spraying another Water Gun at Machamp. Machamp was ready for the attack, however, and used Revenge, glowing bright yellow as the attack hit and the immediately punching Wartortle with its full strength.

Wartortle was sent flying towards the nearby cliff face. Wartortle used Withdraw again before he hit the wall and ricochet off of it, straight into Machamp's head. The Superpower Pokémon was knocked down onto its back by the force of the unexpected blow and fell onto the Toxic Spikes still on the ground. Wartortle took this opportunity to come back out of its shell and blast another Water Pulse at Machamp before following it up with a Tackle, knocking Machamp out.

"Very good." Bruno said as he recalled Machamp back into its Pokéball. "You were able to defeat my entire team before you were even left down to your final Pokémon, earning this Valor badge."

Bruno held out a shield-like badge colored yellow on one side and orange on the other, handing it to Gary.

"There is also something else I would like to give you as a reward for your victory." Bruno continued as Gary took the badge. "Steelix!"

The ground around them shook violently as a massive metal snake Pokémon burst out from the mountain which Gary realized must have been the metallic thing he had leaned against earlier. Steelix lowed its head above Bruno and dropped what appeared to be a couple rocks into his hand. Bruno then held the gray-colored rocks out to Gary.

"These are Moon Stones." He explained as Gary took the rocks from him. "They are formed from a rare mineral with special properties that allow certain Pokémon to evolve such as your Nidorino and Nidorina."

"Um, thanks, I guess." Said Gary, who was not used to being given things and felt there must be some ulterior motive. But Bruno gave no indication of such, so Gary simply turned around and started to walk back to the car.

* * *

Looker's team had still gotten no closer to finding any new leads on Team Rocket's actions, so Wes had decided to take a walk around Viridian City to stretch his legs a bit. He was getting bored with waiting around and doing nothing and was considering entering the Pokémon League to alleviate some of that boredom, but figured that the moment he started with that things would start happening with the Team Rocket case and he would be pulled away from it.

"Maybe next year." He muttered to himself as he walked by an empty alleyway.

Or at least the alleyway appeared empty at first. A flash of movement caught Wes' eye as he went by it that caught his attention. Wes turned around and walked down the alley to see what it was just in time to see something crawl up along the wall and out of sight.

"Wait a minute, wasn't that…" Wes trailed off as he noticed light reflecting off of something nearby. He turned to see what it was and recognized it instantly. "Ariados."

Wes approached the cluster of webbing latched onto the brick wall and pulled it off. There was a silver envelope inside the web with a golden "J" emblazoned on it.

"What does she want?" Wes growled as he glared at the envelope before opening it up and reading the letter inside. "Well, this is interesting."

"So this is the Gym, right?" Ash asked Misty and Brock as they sto

* * *

od outside the Saffron City Gym.

"Yes." Brock answered. "But are you sure we should be here? Carmine said we should wait in the Pokémon Center."

"Oh, what's the worst that could happen?" Ash tried to reassure him.

Ash rested his hand along the six Pokéballs around his belt. Two of them were empty, as Pika and Volty were resting on his shoulders like usual, while the other four contained the remaining members of his team.

"Hey, wait a minute." Ash just realized something was off. "Where'd the Raticate King go?"

"You already have six Pokémon." Misty pointed out. "So it would have been sent to your PC automatically."

"But I had it when we were still in the sewers." Ash pointed out.

"Your Pokédex might not have been able to get a signal down there so it wouldn't have been able to transport until we got back up to the surface." Brock said.

"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense." Ash turned back to the Gym. "Anyway, here we go!"

The inside of the Saffron Gym was dimly lit by torches set on stone pillars around the sides of the room. Ash could just barely see a chair on the other side of the room with what appeared to be a woman sitting in it.

"Hello?" He called out. "Are you the Gym Leader?"

"Something doesn't feel right about this." Brock muttered under his breath.

The woman stood up and started walking slowly towards them. Ash squinted and tried to make out what she looked like but she was still too far away to see clearly in the torchlight.

"I don't remember this place being so dark." Misty commented.

Pika and Volty fidgeted slightly as the woman continued walking slowly. Ash decided to walk up to try and get a better look, but his legs wouldn't cooperate.

"Guys," He said. "I can't move."

"Neither can I." Brock realized.

"What's going on here?" Misty screamed, which was the last sound any of them made before Sabrina came into view and they blacked out.


	59. Chapter 59

Carmine ran out of the Pokémon Center, his dark red hair still dripping yet. He looked around and saw no indication of where Ash and his friends had gone, so he ran off in a random direction, prepared to search the whole city if he had to.

"If Delia finds out about this, she'd kill me." Carmine said to himself as he checked street after street. "And I wouldn't be able to blame her."

As he ran by the entrance to the Gym, he remembered what the Pokémon Center nurse had told him about Sabrina having apparently joined Team Rocket. And if the rumors he had heard about her psychic abilities were true then that Gym was probably one of the most dangerous places anyone could possibly be right now.

"So naturally that's probably were they went." Carmine sighed.

Carmine looked around. Going in there without a plan would be suicidal, so he needed to think of something quick. His attention was quickly drawn to the building next-door to the Gym. It looked like some sort of old, run-down dojo but that wasn't what caught his attention. Situated just above the entranceway to it there was a faded old sign to a Pokémon Gym.

"What's that about?" Carmine wondered to himself. "I suppose I might as well check it out since I don't have any other options at the moment."

He walked up to the dojo and opened the sliding door leading inside. To his surprise the place was actually quite lively. Martial artists and Fighting-type Pokémon filled the main hallway training themselves to the absolute limit of what they could do. Carmine's jaw dropped as he saw the various feats being performed in just the first few seconds after he got there. One man broke through a pile of wooden boards with a single chop while a girl near him was going pushups with another man on her back and a Machamp over in the corner was practicing using Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch all at the same time.

"Greetings, brother." A man in a white gi said to Carmine, startling the veteran trainer. "Can we help you with anything?"

"What is this place?" Carmine asked in awe.

"This is the Fighting Dojo." The man explained. "It is a place where people and Pokémon come from all over to test and train themselves beyond their physical limits."

"But the sign outside said this was a Gym." Carmine pointed out.

"Yes. We got that old sign years ago after the master of this dojo beat Bruno in a fight and took the sign off his Gym barehanded. Oh, that was a sight to behold."

"But aren't you worried about drawing the attention of Team Rocket?" Carmine asked.

"Oh, no. We don't have to worry about them. So long as we don't go outside they don't seem to care. Besides, the only one we really need to worry about is Sabrina, because her psychic powers and Pokémon have the advantage over us, but even then we have ol' Joe over there to help with that."

The man pointed off to the side of the dojo, where an angry looking man in a battered old sea captain's uniform was sitting back-to-back with a foreign Pokémon that Carmine recognized as the Fighting and Dark-type Pangoro.

"Speaking of which," the man continued, "how did you get here, anyway?"

"Never mind." Carmine answered as he turned around to leave.

Carmine was mentally kicking himself as he left the dojo. How could he have forgotten such a basic part of type match-ups? Dark-types were immune to Psychic, which meant all he had to do was send Sneasel into the Gym to scout out the building. It just seems so simple now.

* * *

"Wake up, Mr. Sleepyhead." The voice of a young girl roused Ash from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see the source of said voice standing in front of him.

"Who, who are you?" He asked hesitantly.

"My name is Sabrina." She said happily. "Who are you?"

"I'm… I'm Ash." Ash tried to stand up but found that his arms and legs were tied to the chair he was sitting in. He looked around and found that Misty and Brock were tied to chair behind him as well, still unconscious. There were no signs of Pika or Volty. "What's going on?"

"You were caught snooping around the Gym, so she knocked you out and had the bad men take you away to here."

Ash tried to wrap his mind around what the girl was saying. "Who's she?"

"Sabrina, of course. Silly boy." The girl giggled.

"I thought you said you were Sabrina."

The girl smiled. "Would you like to play with me?"

Ash stared at the girl in confusion. "No, I want to get my friends and get out of here."

"To bad." The girl said as she shrugged and turned around. "I would have let you go if you had said yes."

"Wait!" Ash called out to the girl as she walked away. "I'll play, I'll play!"

The girl turned back to him. "Too late." Then suddenly she disappeared into nothingness.

"What?" Ash stared at the space where the girl had just been in confusion. "Wait, was she another ghost? Wait a minute… Hanami!"

"Oh, so you finally remembered me, did you?" The ghostly maiden materialized in front of him.

"Uh…"

"Oh, I'm just messing with you." Hanami laughed. "No, that girl wasn't a ghost. I'm not sure what she was, but she definitely wasn't a ghost. And before you ask, no, I can't help get free. I can't interact directly with the material world."

"I guess I'll just have to think of something else then." Ash muttered as he tried he get loose of his bonds.

Unfortunately for Ash, the ropes tying him down proved too thick to break free from.

"Sacred Fire." Ash muttered.

"You should watch your language, young man." Hanami said in a mock scolding tone.

"I guess I've been hanging out with Carmine too much." Ash joked. "Wait a minute, Carmine!" He'll come get us, right?"

"Assuming he can even find you." Hanami said. "You're not in the Gym anymore. The men in black that tied you up dragged you away and brought you here. We're in the basement of the tallest building in the city."

"Hm…" Ash tried to think of another plan. "What about Ghastly?"

"They took away all of your… what do you call them… Pokéballs? Yes, Pokéballs! They took all of your Pokéballs away and I don't know where they put them, so you won't be able to rely on your Pokémon for help."

Ash sighed and tried to see if he could knock his chair over, but it was tied to Brock and Misty's chairs in a way that made that impossible.

"You know, back in my day we used acorns to catch Pokémon." Hanami mused.

Ash tried to ignore the absurdity of that statement as he worked out a way to get free. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating on trying to think of another way out. After a moment he opened them back up again.

"What?"

"Did you see that?" Ash asked Hanami.

"See what?"

"Everything just went all bright and colorful." Ash explained.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Everything seemed normal to me. Or at least as normal as it can get when you're a centuries-old ghost, anyway."

"Hold on." Ash said as he closed his eyes again. "They're not lights, they're… people? I see people."

"There's no one else here." Hanami pointed out, starting to get worried.

"No, not here." Ash tried his best to explain. "Up there. It's like I can see everyone in the building above us."

Hanami looked at Ash in bewilderment.

"But they're not just people." Ash continued. "They're all lit up in different colors. Its' like, it's like I'm seeing their souls or something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hanami said.

"No offence, but you don't really seem to know much for an ancient ghost."

"Well what do you expect?" Hanami asked defensively. "I'm not some wise scholar or anything. I'm just a poor village girl who's spent her entire afterlife up until point waiting around in a statue."

"Sorry." Ash apologized.

"No, its fine."

"I'm still no closer to finding a way out of here though." Ash sighed and closed his eyes again, looking down at his hands. They were yellow, he noticed, and it seemed almost as if he were made from electricity. "This is really weird."


	60. Chapter 60

Mallory sighed and put the phone she was just talking into back onto the receiver. Giovanni wasn't going to like the information she had just been told, but she had no choice but to tell him. She sighed and walked over to the entrance to Giovanni's office, knocking on the door. When there was no response, she opened the door and found that the office was empty.

"Even worse." She thought to herself.

Taking a deep breath, she walked across the empty office to a door on the far end. She opened that door and stepped into Giovanni's private training room, where she found him sparing with his Hitmonlee. What had once been nothing more than his daily morning exercise routine had been steadily been taking up more and more of the man's free time. He may not show it to the rest of the world, but Mallory knew him well enough that this was a sign he was worried. Current events were not going as expected and as much as he tried to hide it, Giovanni was slowly losing control. And he was a man who needed to be in control.

Giovanni did not notice Mallory enter as first. It was only when his Persian, who had been laying down lazily near the doorway noticed her and gave a loud meow to announce her presence that Giovanni glanced over in Mallory's direction. He deflected one last blow from his Hitmonlee before bowing to his sparring partner, who returned the bow and walked away to get a towel for him. Giovanni turned to Mallory and started unraveled his hand wraps as he walked over to her.

"What is it?" He asked angrily.

"Sir!" Mallory stood at attention. "We have a report that several individuals have somehow made it past our defenses and infiltrated Saffron City."

"How?" Giovanni asked as his Hitmonlee returned with a small white towel, which Giovanni took from it and started to wipe off his sweat with.

"We don't know for sure yet." Mallory answered him. "But reports say that there were four people who made it in, three of whom have already been captured and are being held in the lowest basement level of the Silph Corporation building. These three individuals have been identified as the Gym Leaders Brock Takeshi of Pewter City and Misty Sensational of Cerulean City, as well as a young trainer whose identification lists as Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Ketchum." Giovanni repeated to himself as he handed the sweaty towel back to Hitmonlee and went to put his shirt back on. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"I cannot say, sir."

"And what of the fourth?"

"We have not been able to confirm his identity, but early reports suggest that he's… well…" Mallory trailed off, not sure how to break the news to him.

"Well, who is it?" Giovanni asked, already suspecting what her answer would be.

"It's… Carmine Noir, sir. The fourth intruder is suspected of being Carmine."

Giovanni glared at Mallory as he finished buttoning his shirt. "And how, may I ask, was he able of getting here without our knowledge?"

"We don't know, sir. Our last report of his whereabouts showed him entering the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town."

"Hm…" Giovanni thought for a moment. "Didn't Silph Corp. recently install a teleport pad there? Is it possible that they were somehow able to hack into it and redirect it to send them here?"

"That is a possibility, sir, though unlikely."

"It doesn't matter anyway. What's important is that he's here and he's a serious threat to our plans. Alert all higher ranking members of the situation. I'm authorizing a city-wide manhunt on Carmine Noir." Giovanni put on his jacket and walked back out to his office, Mallory and Persian both following him out. "Is Elite Squadron still here?"

"Yes." Mallory answered. "They are waiting for a lead on where to start looking for the one who destroyed the S.S. Anne."

"What about our executive members?"

"Archer, Ariana, Proton and Petrol are all away on various other assignments."

"That is unfortunate timing, but with any luck, we shouldn't need them."

"He is only one man." Mallory pointed out. "How much of a threat can he really be?"

"Carmine is one of the strongest and most resourceful trainers I have ever known. But, truth be told, he's not the one I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?" Mallory asked.

Giovanni looked Mallory dead in the eyes. "If I'm right, then you'll be finding out very soon."

* * *

"Okay, Sneasel, I just need you to go in there and find the others. It should be a piece of cake." Carmine told his Sneasel as he stood underneath an open window behind the Saffron Gym. "Come back here as soon as you find anything."

The Sharp Claw Pokémon nodded in confirmation and climbed up the side of the building, sliding through the window with ease. The inside of the Gym was dark, but that was no problem for Sneasel, whose eyesight was naturally adapted for low-light environments. He looked around the deserted Gym but wasn't able to find anything. He was just about to head back to his owner when the front door opened and Sneasel quickly ducked behind one of the support pillars lining the room and climbed up to the ceiling.

Sneasel watched as Sabrina walked slowly across the Gym. When she had made her way halfway across to her chair her Pokégear rang and she stopped to answer it. She didn't say anything at first, instead listening to whoever was on the other end of the call.

"Understood." She said, at last, turning in the direction where Carmine was waiting for Sneasel to return. "I know exactly where he is."

Realizing what was going on, Sneasel suddenly jumped over to the window, using Double Team to create several false duplicates of itself to act as distractions, buying enough time for him to get back outside.

"So, what did you find?" Carmine asked the frantic Sneasel.

Sneasel waved its arms around, wishing he had a way to directly communicate to his trainer. Fortunately, Carmine was able to understand the gist of what he meant and recalled Sneasel back into its Pokéball before running away.

"Now what?" He asked himself. "This bad situation just keeps getting worse."

He ran several blocks before turning back to see if he was being followed. No one was there so he sighed and turned back around.

"Hello!" And suddenly he felt like he was about to have a heart attack due to the sudden appearance of a young girl. "Would you like to play with me?"

* * *

"It's starting to get dark." Daisy noticed as she and Giselle were walking through the streets of Celadon City.

"Yeah, I suppose it is." Giselle put her hands behind her head as she looked up at the sky.

"Should we stop somewhere for the night?"

"We could, but I'm sure someone like you will probably be staying at the Pokémon Center, right? No way I'm lowering myself to that."

"Actually, I was thinking about the Pallet House." Daisy reached into her bag to pull something out.

Giselle looked at Daisy in surprise. "That's definitely a bit richer taste than I was expecting from you. Sure you can afford that?"

"Yeah, the Pallet Houses in larger cities like this are definitely a lot larger and more expensive than the one back home, but at least I can still use this thing at them." Daisy pulled out her VIP card.

"What, what?" Giselle stared wide-eyed at the card. "I thought you were poor!"

"No." Daisy looked at Giselle in confusion. "What made you think that?"

"It's just… everything! Everything about you just screams 'I don't have money'."

"My family's pretty well off, actually. Although this was actually a gift from my neighbor, Mrs. Ketchum, who owns the entire chain."

"I must admit," Giselle said. "I had you all wrong. I think we may be more alike than I thought, which makes you all the better as my rival."

"Thanks, I guess." Daisy wasn't sure of that supposed to be a compliment or not. "Although I'd say you're more like my brother than me."

"Really?" Giselle sounded surprised. "I guess I'll need to meet him so I can make him my rival as well."

"I'm not sure if I want to see that meeting." Daisy shuddered. "Either you'd really get along or it would be a horrible clash of egos."

"What was that?" Giselle asked almost threateningly.

"Nothing, let's just get going."


	61. Chapter 61

Ash resumed trying to break free of his restraints, this time watching the yellow energy that seemed to flow through his body as he did so. He still had no idea what it was or how it worked, but he noticed that it seemed to flow into his hands as he tried to break out of the ropes.

"I think I have an idea." He said.

"What?" Hanami asked him.

Ash concentrated on the yellow energy. It was apparently a part of him, or so he assumed, so he guessed that if he focused hard enough he should be able to control it to some extent. Sure enough, after some effort, he could feel it flow into his arms. It felt almost as if his strength was leaving the rest of his body altogether and reside solely in his arms. He tried lifting his arms up to break through the robes and was able to put so much force into it that the ropes practically disintegrated as they burst apart.

"How did you do that?" Hanami asked in awe.

"I'm not sure, but, uh… I can't seem to move now." Ash held his arms straight up as he waited for the energy to flow back down and spread throughout his body again. "I can't say that I ever want to experience this feeling again."

Ash slowly stood up. It felt like his legs were asleep as he tried to take a step forward and immediately fell down.

"Oh, right." He muttered as he picked himself back up. "My legs are still tied."

Ash sat back down and bent over to untie his legs from the chair. Once he managed to get that done, he stood up again and took a step forward and away from the chair. He turned around and scanned the room, not surprised to learn that whoever had captured them hadn't left their stuff inside the same room as them.

"Let's see…" Ash said as he reached around to check what all they had taken from him. In addition to his Pokéballs and backpack, it appeared that his captors had also felt the need to deprive him of his jacket, gloves and hat. He then looked over at Misty and Brock. "Should I wake them up and then untie them, or untie them and then try to wake them up?"

"I'd suggest untying them first." Hanami suggested.

"Yeah, that makes more sense."

Ash knelt down in front of Misty and started untying her first, before moving on to Brock. Just as he finished with the last knot, the two started to wake up. Hanami faded away again before they fully regained consciousness, not ready to reveal herself to anyone else yet.

"Wha…what's going on?" Misty asked weakly as her eyes fluttered open.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ash answered. "We got captured somehow and we're being held inside of a basement somewhere."

"Captured by who?" Brock asked as he stood up.

"I don't know for sure, but if I had to make a guess I'd say Team Rocket." Ash answered.

"What?" Misty practically screamed.

"Keep your voice down." Ash told her. "Someone could hear you. Now come on, we need to find our stuff and get out of here."

"It looks like there's a way up over there." Brock pointed to a small staircase in the corner of the room that led up to a door and started walking towards it.

"Hold on." Ash held out his hand for Brock to stop then closed his eyes and looked up at the door to see if there was anyone on the other side. All he could see was the rocky brown of Brock standing at the base of the stairs. "Okay, it's clear. Let's go."

"What are you talking about?" Misty asked, puzzled by his behavior.

"I'm not sure." Ash said. "It's like when I close my eyes I can see… people. I think it's their life energy or something. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Since when can you do that?"

"It just started a few minutes ago. Now come on, we need to get out of here."

* * *

"Who are you?" Carmine asked the young girl that stood before him. The girl's long dark hair that covered her eyes contrasted greatly with her pale skin and faint pink dress, giving a creepy and almost ethereal vibe to her. There was also something familiar about her, as if he had met her somewhere before.

"My name is Sabrina." She answered him. "Would you like to play with me?"

Carmine face turned to an expression of horror then to confusion as he turned around. Sabrina was the corrupt Gym Leader he was running from, wasn't she? Did this girl just have the same name as her or… "No." He thought to himself. It had to be a coincidence. Carmine turned back to the girl and looked at her more closely. It was then that he realized that the girl's hair wasn't covering her eyes. Her eyes were cloaked in shadow.

"What are you?" Carmine wondered aloud with thinking.

The girl smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Now that's a _smart_ question." She said in a teasing manner. "Play with me and I might just tell you."

Carmine checked behind himself again, took a deep breath and turned back to the girl. "Fine. I'll play."

Sabrina opened her mouth in a big smile. "Yay!"

There was a bright flash and suddenly Carmine found himself in the city of town, but something seemed… off. Not only did Saffron seem as empty as it had before, but there was something different about the town itself. Some of the buildings were different, some weren't there at all and everything seemed slightly larger than it should be. It felt almost as if he had just stepped back in time. In fact, now that he thought about it the city looked almost exactly like it had when he had first visited the city over a decade ago during his first visit to the Kanto region.

"What's going on?" He wondered aloud.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, Carmine." He heard Sabrina's voice as if it here reverberating through the city itself.

"How do you know my name?" Carmine asked her accusatorily.

"You told it to me."

"What?" Carmine was more confused than ever. "When did I tell you that?"

"You don't remember me, do you?" Clouds suddenly formed overhead and rain began pouring down over the city. "Oh, I know! Why don't we act out when we first met? It all happened 15 years ago."

Carmine had no idea what she was talking about. He couldn't remember having ever met her before and there was no way she was old enough to have been around 15 years ago. But that would have been around the time he had first passed through Saffron City and now that he thought about it, something had happened when he was there. But what was it? He couldn't remember.

Not wanting to get any wetter than he had to, Carmine ran over to store that had a canopy above its window so that he could get out of the rain for a moment. He happened to glance at his reflection in the window and was shocked by what he saw. It was certainly his face looking back at him, but it was not a face he had seen in a long time. Carmine was staring at a reflection of his teenage self and quickly realized that it wasn't just his reflection. Carmine had somehow been physically regressed back to his early teens.

"15 years ago." Carmine muttered to himself. "I would have been 14 when I first got here. This is what I looked like back then, isn't it? What the Aeroblast is going on here?"

He backed away from the window and back into the rain. He wasn't going to be getting any answered just standing around here, so he decided to start searching around. He turned a corner onto a side street and started walking down it. As he went by an alleyway he happened to turn and look down it. He saw Sabrina run by on the opposite side and he was suddenly pushed back by a strong blast of air that flipped him over in midair before he landed on his face.

"Ow." Carmine said as he pulled himself back up. "What was that?"


	62. Chapter 62

Ash led Misty and Brock through the building they were trapped in using his newfound abilities to make sure that they didn't run into any members of Team Rocket and get captured again. The building's layout was simple enough on its own but having to avoid the various guards turned it into a maze.

They made their way along an empty hallway when suddenly Ash stopped right before walking in front of an open doorway. He held his hand up to signal that the others should stop as well, almost hitting Misty in the face in the process. Ash gazed through the wall at the cloudy lavender aura of a Team Rocket Grunt who standing alone in the otherwise empty room as he waited for the man to turn around so that they could get by. After a moment that felt much longer than it actually was, the man walked over to a chair facing away from the door and sat down. Ash put his hand down and the trio hurried past the doorway. They made their way further down the hallway when Ash saw an icy-blue aura coming around a corner up ahead and they had to duck into a custodial closet.

"This is starting to get frustrating." Misty whispered just audibly enough for Ash and Brock to hear her.

"I know, but's all we can do right now." Ash responded to her in a similarly quite fashion, still watching as the person walking down the hallway got closer to where they were hiding.

"Do we have any plan about how we're going to find our Pokémon and our stuff?" Brock asked.

"Not yet." Ash admitted. "Hopefully we'll be able to find them as we make our way out of h-" Ash suddenly stopped talking as the door to the closet creaked open and Ash, Misty and Brock found themselves face-to-face with a member of Team Rocket.

After several painstaking seconds of utter silence, the Team Rocket grunt sighed, rolled his eyes and grabbed a broom that was hanging from a hook on the wall. "They don't pay me enough for this." He muttered as he closed the door again.

"What just happened?" Misty asked in shock.

"I don't know but I guess we should consider ourselves lucky." Brock answered.

"If we were lucky, then we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with."

* * *

Rain continued to pour down as Carmine ran down the alleyway he had just been knocked out of. He was starting to remember now. Fifteen years ago he had visited Saffron and gotten lost in the large unfamiliar city, wandering around aimlessly when he had seen a young girl run by and was shoved back by some unseen force like he had been just a moment ago. He remembered chasing after the girl, but that was as far as his memory would take him. What had happened after that? He needed to know and finding out was likely the only way he would be able to get out of wherever he was trapped right now.

Carmine turned the corner onto a larger road just in time to see the girl run out into another alley. He ran through the steadily increasing rain as he chased after her. When he reached the alley and turned into it he found a dead end, with the girl sitting curled-up against a wall at the end of it, crying.

"What's wrong?" He called out to the girl as he approached her.

"Go away!" The girl screamed. A massive shockwave blasted out of her and sent Carmine flying back several yards.

Carmine pulled himself back up to his feet and approached the girl again. "And leave a girl to cry alone? Never." Carmine had forgotten how noble he had been in his youth. Or stupid, he wasn't sure which this was right now. Either way, he found himself filled with more determination than he had felt in a very long time.

"Leave me alone!" The girl screamed.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" Carmine was able to brace himself for another shockwave, only being sent back a few feet this time and he was able to stay on his feet before running up closer to her.

"Don't come near me!" The girl started crying even harder now. "You'll get hurt! Everyone gets hurt."

"Don't worry about me." Carmine said with a smile. He had managed to catch up to the girl now and knelt down in front of her. "I can take anything you can throw at me."

The girl looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "You aren't afraid of me?" She asked.

"Of course not." Carmine laughed. Something he would never do in the present. "Why would I be?"

"Because…" The girl stared at her knees. "My powers hurt people. Even the other psychics are afraid of me. Even my parents…" The girl's words became unintelligible through her massive sobs.

"It's okay." Carmine tried to comfort her. "I know what it's to hurt people, too. It's pleasant, but running away will only make things worse. You need to face your fears and take control of yourself."

The girls looked up at Carmine again, stood up and suddenly hugged him tightly. Carmine returned the hug and picked the girl up, holding her in a warm embrace.

"Now come on, let's get you out of this rain. I'm sure someone is worried sick about where you are right now. My name's Carmine by the way, what's yours?"

"S-Sabrina."

Carmine could remember everything about that night now. He had taken Sabrina to a nearby Pokémon Center after that before getting her to tell him where she lived so that he could bring her back home. As Carmine had suspected, her parents were terrified by her running away and were relieved to see her home safe and sound. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he had even managed to forget that night.

Carmine now found himself standing in a white void with the young Sabrina standing before him.

"The night we met you helped me more than you could ever know." Sabrina said. "But I'm afraid I have to ask you for your help again."

"Sure." Carmine said. "Anything you need."

"When Team Rocket attacked the city I was defeated and knocked out." Sabrina explained. "When I had awoken they had done something to me. They somehow locked my heart away so that I couldn't feel anything. I've become little more than an emotionless slave to their evil ways. But my powers have been able to protect me somewhat, projecting that part of me that had been locked away as this vision of my younger self that you see before you now."

Carmine stared at Sabrina in stunned silence, unsure of what to say to that.

"I need you to rescue me, Carmine." She continued. "I don't know how, but I know you'll be able to find a way to undo whatever it is that they've done to me. Please, Carmine."

"How could I possibly say no to that?" Carmine said at last. "Of course I'll try."

* * *

"Outside the northern entrance to Diglett's Cave." Wes said to himself as he looked around. "This is the place she said she wanted to meet and yet she's nowhere to be seen. Typical."

Wes crumpled up the letter he was holding and shoved it in his pocket. His mother had gone through all the trouble having her Ariados send him a letter asking to meet him and when he went against his better judgment and actually went there, she wasn't there. In many ways, Wes felt that this situation served as a parallel to his relationship with his mother as a whole. He began walking away but quickly had to jump back to dodge a sudden stream of flame that erupted in front of him.

"What was that?" He looked up at where the fire had come from to see an Entei standing on top of Diglett's Cave, staring down menacingly at him. This Entei was different than the one he himself had, however. Its fur was a different shade of brown and the red sections of its face-plate were gray rather than the normal red. Not that anything was ever truly normal about legendary Pokémon.

Wes felt his hair start to rise as a bolt of electricity flew by him and struck the cave. He turned around to see a Raikou walking out of the forest. Its fur was more of an orange color than the yellow that his Raikou had and the cloud on its back was yellow rather than purple.

Wes knew that if an Entei and a Raikou were here, then that would mean that a Suicune was as well, and sure enough, he saw one walk up to him as well so that the three legendary beasts had him surrounded. Like the others, this Suicune was different than his, being a lighter shade of blue and the cape-like mane that flowed from behind its head was dark blue rather than purple.

"Do you like my beasts?" Hunter J stepped out from behind a tree next to Suicune. "I caught them in Crown City, in the Sinnoh region. Although from what I understand, you have a set of your own, don't you? You are my son, after all. Collecting rarities like these are in your blood. Although I must say, these beauties are probably a bit more 'special' than the ones you have."

"What do you want, Mother?"


	63. Chapter 63

"Now, now. Is that any way to treat your dear old mother?" Hunter J asked Wes in a mocking tone.

"What do you want?" Wes repeated himself.

"Fine, if you want to be like that." Hunter J sighed. "I'm working on building up a new Cipher and I was hoping that you'd join me in it. With your skills as a trainer and as a 'collector' you could easily serve as my second-in-command. It would also allow us to finally be able to bond as mother and child."

"Yeah, that ship sailed a long time ago." Wes glanced around at the Legendary Beasts surrounding him. "Though it doesn't look like you're giving me much of a choice on the matter."

"Oh, the choice is yours to make." Hunter J reassured him. "Thes boys are just here to make sure that you don't try anything… reckless. Though before you say no, there is something you should take into account."

Hunter J turned to Suicune and reached for something on its back, hidden under the Aurora Pokémon's mane. Wes' eyes widen as she pulled Rui off of the Pokémon, with her wrists bound together and a gag around her mouth.

"I found this one following you here." She said. "You really should keep better track of your friends, Weston, or they could get hurt."

"Let her go." Wes ordered Hunter J.

"Oh, I will. Just as long as you agree to join me, that is."

The muscles in Wes' arms tightened as he clenched his fists. "Fine."

Hunter J released her grip on Rui and shoved the girl forward. Rui stumbled up to Wes, who caught her and helped her stand up straight.

"Or at least that's what I would say she was really here."

Wes suddenly punched Rui in the gut, breaking the Illusion as the Rui suddenly vanished and was replaced with a startled Zorua. The Tricky Fox Pokémon ran off back to Hunter J and jumped up into her arms.

"Very good." Hunter J said, bemused. "What gave it away?"

"That Pokémon of yours needs to work on its disguises." Wes answered. "It may have been able to look like her, but it wasn't able to match her more subtle movements. Body language is important."

"Hm. Yes, I suppose I should work on training him on that sort of thing a bit better. Though I suppose I must have underestimated your bond with that girl if you were able to notice it so easily."

"Also," Wes added, "you forgot to take that Sooth Bell off from around its neck. I could hear it clinging around as it moved."

Hunter J looked down at the Pokémon she was holding in her arms. "Oh, yes. That's what I get for coming up with that idea at the last moment, I suppose. I'm trying to work up my relationship with him. He's almost like the son I was never able to have." She glared at Wes.

"I don't believe that for a moment." Wes retorted. "Or else your memory's fading, because you were the one who abandoned me to be raised by a bunch of common criminals while you went off to join your precious Cipher. And then you abandoned them while I took down the entire organization."

"I was moving up in the world and Cipher was just my ticket up to bigger and better things." Hunter J said defensively. "For both of us. I would have come back for you if you had just been a little more patient."

"And yet somehow I don't believe that, either." Wes shrugged.

"Fine, then be that way." Hunter J said mournfully as she grabbed a Luxury Ball from her belt and recalled Zorua. "But just know that I really didn't intend for it to be like this."

Hunter J snapped her fingers and the three Legendary Beasts all attacked Wes at once, Entei with a Flamethrower, Raikou with a Thunderbolt and Suicune with an Aurora Beam. He had been prepared for this, however, and was able to react quickly. All three attacks exploded around him, creating a thick blanket of smoke and steam around the area. After a moment the air cleared to reveal Wes standing, unharmed, between his own set of Legendary Beasts.

"Well," Hunter J muttered to herself, "I can't say that this is a surprise. Still, it should be interesting."

* * *

Carmine found himself back in Saffron City, sitting on the dry grass where he had been just before he left. Although, he thought to himself, he probably never left that spot. The events that had just occurred probably happened within his mind.

He pulled himself back up to his feet and wiped the grass off of his pants. He needed to come up with a plan and fast. He didn't have any time to spare. But he was already too late, as Sabrina walked up to him from around a corner.

"There you are." She said in a dead monotone.

Sabrina raised her right hand up towards Carmine, apparently about to blast him with a psychic attack. Carmine wasn't sure if she actually needed to raise her arm for that, but he thought that maybe it was her younger self altering her actions just enough to buy him a split second to react. And react he did, in the only way he could think of. He hugged her.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked as Carmine held onto her in a tight embrace.

"It's all right." Carmine said quietly. He wasn't sure if this was really going to do anything, but it was the only thing he could do right now. "You're safe now. Just relax and try to fight it. Fight the control they have over you." Carmine couldn't help but mentally groan at how sappy he sounded.

"Let go of me." Sabrina said, though she made no effort to escape from Carmine's grip.

"No. I'm not letting go while you still need my help." Carmine felt Sabrina's weight shift as her knees gave out and he could hear her faint crying as he knelt down on the ground. He rested his chin against the teenaged psychic's forehead as continued trying to comfort her. "That's it. I know you can break out of this."

After a moment, Sabrina spoke again. Her voice now sounded more normal than before. "Thank you. You've saved me again."

"Don't mention it." Carmine said jokingly. "It was nothing."

"No, it wasn't. Also, you can stop hugging me now."

"Right." Carmine let go and leaned back away from her, slightly embarrassed.

"Why do you keep saving me?" Sabrina asked. "You don't even really know me."

"I don't know." Carmine shrugged. "I guess you kind of remind me of my sister or something. As her older brother, it was my duty to protect her, but I failed. I guess I just don't want to fail anyone like that again. Or maybe I just don't like seeing others in trouble so I help them out of the kindness of my heart. Could be either, or neither, I don't know."

Just then, several members of Team Rocket arrived, no doubt drawn in by the commotion.

"I'll handle them." Sabrina said as she stood up to face Team Rocket. "You need to rescue your friends."

"How did you-"

"Psychic." Sabrina pointed out. "Also, I'm the one who captured them. They should be held in the basement of the Silph Building, although…" She paused. "It looks like they've escaped and are trying to find their way out."

"Right." Carmine said. "Be safe, and if you need any help, I'm pretty sure the guys over in the dojo next to your Gym should be willing to lend a hand. Just watch out for the Pangoro."

"What was last part?"

"Bye!" Carmine ran off without answering her question.

* * *

"I feel like we're going in circles." Misty said. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Not really." Ash replied. "But we're bound to find our stuff eventually. Hold on." Ash raised his hand again for the others to stop as he looked up.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure. There's something in the room right above us. Like some kind of large rock or something."

"I thought you could only see people and Pokémon with your… whatever's going on with you right now." Brock asked.

"I know, that's what's odd about it. It doesn't look like any kind of Pokémon, but its glowing bright orange. There's also some kind of darkness coming from it that seems familiar somehow. I think we need to check it out."

"That doesn't sound like a good idea." Misty said. "We need to be working on finding our Pokémon and then the way out of here."

"But what if our Pokémon are up there with it?" Ash pointed out. "It doesn't look like I can see Pokémon if they're in their Pokéballs, which means they could be just about anywhere."

"Fine."


	64. Chapter 64

"What's going on?" James asked groggily as he was forced out of bed by the other members of the Elite Squadron.

"Intruders have infiltrated the city." Attila said angrily. "Get your uniform on, we've got to catch them. What were you doing in bed already, anyway?"

"Nothing was going on, so I thought I'd go to bed early." James wasn't sure why he needed to explain this. "Now would you all get out of here so that I can get dressed."

After the others filtered out of James' room he went over to his closet and pulled out one of his new uniforms. While the lower ranking members of Team Rocket all shared the same basic uniform with a black shirt with a red "R" emblem over the chest, a pair of black pants or a black skirt, white boots and gloves and a black hat. Higher ranking agents, however, had custom uniforms that varied in design depending on what squad they were assigned to. When James had been a part of J Squad, his uniform consisted of a white pair of pants and a white jacket with the R symbol on it over a black shirt, with black gloves and boots. James had grown fond of that uniform which made adjusting to his new one even harder.

The uniforms that all members of the Elite Squadron wore were similar in design to the basic Team Rocket uniforms, but with a black jacket over a white shirt. Instead of having a large red R emblem on the front, the jacket had a smaller one on the left side of the chest with a larger one on the back. Thin red stripes ran up the sides of the sleeves and pant legs, going up to the elbows and knees, respectively.

When he finished getting dressed, James sighed and opened the door to join the others. To his surprise, only Jessie and Meowth were waiting for him there.

"Where are the others?" He asked as the trio started walking down the hallway.

"Dat Masque lady left wit' Butch an' Cassidy without sayin' where's they was goin'." Meowth started to explain.

"And then Attila lost his patience, so he and Hun went off ahead." Jessie finished. "We should probably go catch up to them now."

The trio stopped just outside of an elevator and Jessie pressed the button to go down. They waited for a moment for the elevator doors to open then got in.

"How many intruders are there?" James asked.

"It sounds like dere should be's four of dem." Meowth answered. "But apparently threes of dem have already been caught."

"But that means there's only one left." James pointed out. "Why would they need all of us to catch one person?"

"We don't know." Said Jessie. "But he's supposed to be that guy that beat us back in Viridian."

James shuddered, remembering how Carmine had defeated him easily with just his Sneasel. "But we're a lot stronger than we were back then. He couldn't be _that_ powerful, could he?"

Jessie shrugged. "I don't know, but we have orders to capture him, so that's what we're going to do."

After a moment, they finally reached the first floor and the doors slid open again. Carmine was standing there and quickly stepped inside. "Going up?" He asked as he pressed the door close button. Jessie, James and Meowth stood there in stunned silence, unsure of how to react.

* * *

Ash stood just outside the closed door that led into the room containing that the strange orange crystal was contained in. Now that he was closer to the crystal he could feel a strange pulse coming from it that almost felt like a heartbeat.

"Okay, it looks like there's one person in there with it." Ash whispered to Misty and Brock. "But he's facing away from us, so if we're quite we should be able to sneak in."

"Why are we even doing this?" Misty asked.

"I don't know." Ash answered as he grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He watched the dark metallic aura of the man inside, who seemed to be busy working on something on the table he was sitting at. When the door was fully open, Ash opened his eyes so that he could see with his normal vision.

The room looked like it was some kind of lab. Strange machines lined the walls and the few tables scattered around were covered in what seemed like junk to Ash. The orange crystal was sitting inside of some sort of containment unit on the back wall that was hooked up to several other devices. The crystal seemed to glow just as brightly as it had when he was looking at it through closed eyes. If anything it was even brighter since he could no longer see the dark fog that covered it before.

Ash glanced over at the man seated at one of the tables. He was dressed strangely, wearing a spiked red jacket and some kind of golden helmet. Ash could see over the man's shoulder that he was fiddling with some strange black Pokéballs of a design he had never seen before. Ash figured there was nothing he could actually do here and was just about to leave when he saw something in the corner of the room that caught his attention. His, Misty's and Brock's bags were propped up against a wall with their jackets in a pile next to them and their belts, with Pokéballs still on them resting on the edge of a nearby table.

Ash snuck over to the corner and grabbed his belt off the table, putting it back on around his waist. He was just reaching to grab his jacket when the man sitting at the table swore loudly and Ash froze. He turned around slowly to see the man standing up now while a small plume of smoke drifted up from the black Pokéball he had been working on.

"Not again." The man growled. "And I was so close."

Ash knew that there was no way he would be able to get out of this situation without the man noticing him, so a confrontation was inevitable. Rather than run the risk of the man getting the upper hand, Ash chose to make the first move. He reached down to his belt and grabbed two of his Pokéballs, sending out Sandshrew and Krabby to attack the man. Sandshrew used Rollout to knock the man off his feet and Krabby used Mud Sport, knocking the man out. Misty and Brock both peered into the room to see what just happened.

"What's going on in here?" Misty asked as she saw the unusual scene before them.

"Never mind that." Ash pointed to bags sitting in the corner. "Now grab your stuff and let's get out of this place."

"But didn't you want to find out what that crystal is?"

"I just had my Pokémon knock a guy out. I'd rather not stick around long enough to have to do something like that again."

* * *

Wes and Hunter J stared each other down intensely as they both waited for the other to make the next move. All six legendary beasts stood at attention, ready to make a move as soon as the order was given. Sparks threw through the air, literally due to the two Raikou and figuratively from the sheer tension that had formed between mother and child. Wes' contempt for his mother had been steadily building for as long as he could remember, and at last, he could finally vent his frustration against her. Hunter J, on the other hand, felt angry and a little betrayed that her son refused to see things her way.

"Attack!"

"Now!"

The two Jaegers both shouted to their Pokémon at once. Clouds filled the sky as the winds howled and rain, snow and hail fell from the sky in a mighty storm the likes of which Kanto had not seen in living memory. Bolts of lightning struck down from the sky accompanied by deafening thunder, while fire and lava sprung forth from the ground.

A single Legendary Pokémon was a force not to be reckoned with, with powers far beyond what most mortals could ever dream of having. Even the Beasts, among the lowest of the Legendary hierarchy, barely above the level of regular Pokémon, could leave behind great devastation in their wake if they so choose. And there were currently six Legendary Beasts locked in battle.


	65. Chapter 65

Giovanni sat at his desk waiting for some word from the agents currently scouring Saffron City for Carmine. He didn't show it, but the leader of Team Rocket was starting to get nervous. A red light started flashing on Giovanni's desk and he turned to Mallory, who had been standing beside him. She nodded back to him and quickly walked out of the room. Once Mallory shut the door behind her, Giovanni pressed the button underneath his desk.

Nine large screens slid down the wall in front of Giovanni and the center screen lit up. The Foundation's President and Chairman of the Council stared angrily at Giovanni. Giovanni noted that he appeared to have gained several pounds since the last time they had spoken. Giovanni knew the man well enough to know what that meant.

"You're worried about something." It was a statement, not a question.

"Of course I am!" The President could barely contain his frustration. "There's been a lot going on lately."

"Oh, that reminds me." Giovanni said nonchalantly, not willing to show the President any sign that things weren't going well on his end, either. "Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. I hope you liked my gift."

"My wife wanted to burn it as soon as she saw it." The President said. A small smile started to break up his look of discontent as he recalled the memory. But the smile quickly vanished as soon as it appeared. "But that's not why I called you."

"I would assume you're going to tell me when we're having the meeting to vote on who should take Evice's seat on the council." Giovanni said.

The President glanced to the side nervously. "I'm afraid we've already held that vote."

Giovanni absently clenched his fists tightly as he tried to keep his composure. "Then why wasn't I informed?"

"Well, you see…" The President tried to find a good way to tell him. "I'm afraid I don't have time to say right now. Our next meeting is just about to start."

The President pressed the button on his desk that sent out a summons to all of the members of the council. One by one the other screens lit up as the council members answered the call.

* * *

The ferocious battle continued to rage on around Wes and Hunter J as their Legendary Beasts unleashed all of their power against each other. In order to avoid harm from the raging storm the battle brought, Wes called his Suicune over and hopped onto its back, ducking under the cloud-like mane for protection. As he did so he saw that his mother had the same idea, climbing onto her own Suicune's back as well. It pained Wes to know that they thought so much alike.

Unfortunately, Wes could no longer see the battle going on around him, which meant that he could not direct his Pokémon. He trusted that they could take care of themselves, however, so he clung on tightly to Suicune's fur in an effort not to fall off of its back as Suicune continued to fight.

After a few minutes, Wes could no longer hear the battle going on and Suicune seemed to stop moving around. He cautiously climber back down to the ground and looked around to see that Hunter J and her Pokémon had apparently fled the battlefield. Wes' Suicune, Entei and Raikou were now calmly tending to their injuries.

"Well, that was short." Wes commented, trying to figure out why she would just suddenly leave like that. He looked around at the area around them and saw that the battle had completely reshaped the surrounding landscape. "We're going to get in so much trouble for this."

* * *

Hunter J climbed off of his Suicune as soon as she was sure that Wes wasn't following her. She would have liked to finish their battle, but she knew enough not to refuse a summons from the council, as inconvenient as the timing may be. She sent out her camera drone to get a good picture of her and tapped a button on the side of her visor. Several panels popped up along her visor showing the silhouettes of the council members. She knew, of course, that she would not be permitted to see the council members themselves until she was officially inducted into their group.

"Now that we're all here," said a man who Hunter J knew must be the council's chairman, "I call this meeting of the Council to order. We are here now to discuss the results of our last meeting, where we voted on who would take the open seat on the council. At that meeting it was voted for the new council member to be… Greevil Verich."

Hunter J felt like the whole world stopped for a moment. She had been so confident that she would be the one to join the council. She had been working towards this for years. How could she possibly have lost?

"In addition it has been agreed that one of our number shall be taken off the council due to resent events."

Hunter J perked up at this. If someone was leaving the council, then that would mean that there was another seat available. She still had a chance.

"Giovanni Rozzo has been voted off of the council and Jael Jaeger has been voted to take his place."

* * *

"What?" Giovanni yelled furiously. "This is an outrage! You can't do this to me!"

"I'm sorry, Giovanni. But the vote was held. You are no longer a part of the council."

Giovanni raised an accusative finger up to one of the screens, showing a man with short spikey blue hair. "You're the one behind this, aren't you Cyrus? You've always had it out for me!"

"It doesn't matter who suggested you be removed." Cyrus said as cold and emotionless as ever. "You were voted out, which means that your exclusion was the will of the council."

"And can you really blame us?" Asked the man with long bushy green hair. "Considering how erratic you've been lately and how much damage your organization has caused."

"Oh, like your one to talk, Ghetsis." Giovanni said. "We all know how crazed you can get on a bad day."

"That's enough." Said the chairman.

"And you!" Giovanni turned his attention to his old friend. "Are you really going to go with this, Mohn?"

"I'm sorry, Giovanni, but it's not up to me. A vote was held and it was decided that you should be removed from the council. Now, without any further ado, this meeting is closed."

Giovanni tried to object further, but Mohn pressed the button on his desk and the line was cut. The wall of screen retracted back up into the ceiling. Giovanni sat back in his chair and stared wide eyed on the wall. First the intruders and now this. He wondered if things could get any worse for himself, but immediately regretted the thought as the door to his office has flung off of its hinges with Mallory and Agents Jessie, James and Meowth all being thrown into the room. Giovanni tried to regain his composure as a Feraligatr walked in with its trainer right behind it.

"Hey, Giovanni." Carmine said with a false cheer. "Long time, no see. You haven't happened to have seen an obnoxious ten year old and a couple of Gym Leaders, have you? It's kind of in your best interest that I find them safe and sound."

* * *

Hunter J raised her fists in the air triumphantly. Years of working her way up in the world had finally payed off. Having a seat in the council meant that she was now one of the most powerful people in the world. Nothing could take this from her.

Her victory was cut short, however, when she then received a call. She answered it and the image of a short, jolly looking bald man popped up on her visor.

"Hello!" He said cheerily. "You must me Miss Jaeger. I've heard a lot about you."

"Who is this?" Hunter J asked.

"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself. How rude of me. You can call me Mr. Verich, Grand Master of Cipher and, along with you, one of the newest members of the council. I just called to let you know… that I will destroy you." The man's cheery façade gave way for a second before he resumed his false cheer. "Anyway, congratulations on this great achievement."

Mr. Verich hung up, leaving Hunter J to ponder his words.

"What the Distortion World?" She muttered. "Who does that guy think he is?"


	66. Chapter 66

The Iron Masked Marauder slowly stood up, trying to clutch his head with one hand, though his helmet got in the way.

"What hit me, a Rhydon?" He muttered to himself as he looked around at his lab. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at first until he realized that the items confiscated from the intruders were missing. "Oh, bother. They must have escaped and knocked me out to get their stuff back. And their Pokémon were going to make such perfect test subjects for my Dark Balls."

The Iron Masked Marauder looked over to the black Pokéballs he had been working on earlier and sighed. He was going to pull out his radio and give an alert about the intruders but then decided on another idea. He reached for one of the six black and yellow buttons on the red jacket he wore over his Team Rocket uniform and pulled it out. The Ultra Ball grew to full size as he pressed the button on its front and his favorite Pokémon materialized from the yellow energy released from it. Dark Scizor kneeled before its master, awaiting an order.

"Find those brats and capture them. I think they've just earned themselves the right to be turned Dark. It's what they get for defying me."

Dark Scizor glided out of the room in pursuit of its targets so fast that the Iron Masked Marauder could barely follow its movement. The dark red Pincer Pokémon dashed through the empty hallways of the Silph Corp. building before quickly catching up to Ash, Misty and Brock. It raised back its right pincer as it closed the gap between them and let loose with a Bullet Punch. The attack was just a warning, however, and Scizor used the momentum of the attack to go between Ash and Brock, passing the trio and blocking their way.

"Where did that Pokémon come from?" Brock asked in shock.

"It doesn't matter." Ash reached down to his belt. "It looks like we'll be fighting our way out of here now."

* * *

"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Giovanni asked Carmine mockingly as he walked around his desk so that they could face each other directly.

"We were never friends." Carmine growled.

"Oh, you're right." Giovanni corrected himself. "We were something more than that, we were family."

Jessie, James and Meowth all looked at Giovanni in confusion as they stood back up, unsure as to what he was talking about. Mallory, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Speaking of which, where is your sister, anyway?" Giovanni continued. "It's been so long since I've seen Scarlet."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!"

Without thought or hesitation, Carmine suddenly lost all composure and decked Giovanni in the face. Giovanni's Persian lept up from its resting place and charged at Carmine to protect its master, but stopped as Giovanni held his hand up to it.

"And why shouldn't I say her name." Giovanni taunted, Carmine fist still pressed hard against his cheek. "She is my wife, after all."

"Ex-." Carmine corrected him.

"What does that matter?" Giovanni asked, then knocked Carmine's arm away and punched him in the gut.

Carmine took a step back from the force of the blow and blocked a left hook from Giovanni by ducking down and charging at Giovanni, crashing into the desk. Giovanni slipped out of Carmine's grasp and rolled away towards the large window on the southern side of his office. Carmine chased after him and the two exchanged several more blows before Carmine was able to pin Giovanni against the window by pressing his elbow up against Giovanni's neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just toss you out there and let you fall." Carmine said furiously.

"Because-" Giovanni started to say, before kicking Carmine in the shin, causing Carmine to release his hold and allowing Giovanni to grab Carmine by the through and shove him against the window. "That's what I was going to do to you."

Giovanni kicked Carmine in the stomach with as much strength as he could muster, breaking the window and sending Carmine hurtling down towards the streets below. Giovanni backed away from the window and wiped the back of his hand against his mouth. Jessie, James and Meowth stared at their boss in stunned silence, while Mallory simply smirked.

"It looks like I'll be needing a new suit." Giovanni remarked. "This one's stained now."

Giovanni suddenly stumbled back several steps while the others were knocked to the floor as a sudden earthquake shook the area. Giovanni turned around to look out the broken window in horror. A giant red eye stared back at him and a deafening roar echoed through the area.

"Arceus!" Giovanni swore. "I knew he had it."

* * *

Dark Scizor backflipped out of the way of Pika's ThunderShock and landed on the wall, which it then jumped off of to avoid a Water Gun from Misty's Starmie. The Bug-type then charged forward between the two Pokémon and head-butted Brock's Graveler with an Iron Head attack. The Super Effective attack knocked the Rock Pokémon back so that Ash, Misty and Brock had to press up against the walls to get out if its way. Dark Scizor then chased after Graveler and did a mid-air spin as it reached the Rock-type in order to build up more momentum for a Bullet Punch, sending Graveler crashing through the wall.

Pika and Starmie chased after Dark Scizor, who in turn followed Graveler though the newly created hole in the wall into a large empty room full of cubicles. Starmie tried to hit Dark Scizor with a Water Gun as soon as it spotted the Scizor, only to find that it was only a Double Team copy. The copy disappeared as the attack passed harmlessly through it and hit Graveler instead. The real Dark Scizor was hiding behind the now-unconscious Graveler and hit it with another Bullet Bunch to send Graveler flying into Starmie, pinning it against a wall, leaving Pika as the only one of the three Pokémon still able to battle.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to defeat Dark Scizor in a head-on battle, Pika used Discharge to release his electrical energy around himself, destroying the surrounding cubicles and sending various documents and papers flying through the air. Dark Scizor used Double Team, falling right into Pikachu's trap. The papers flying around the room were filled with a static charge from Pikachu's attack, which caused them to cling lightly to the real Scizor while simply passing through the doubles, allowing Pikachu to easily identify which was the real Scizor.

Pika used a Double Team of its own as a distraction so that Scizor would go after the duplicates, allowing Pika to easily sneak behind Dark Scizor and hit it from behind with a Brick Break. All of Dark Scizor's doubles vanished as the Pincer Pokémon crashed into the carpeted floor, which was filled with even more static. This made it slightly harder for Dark Scizor to get back up, creating just enough extra time for Pika to hit Dark Scizor with a Thunder Wave, followed by another Brick Break. The Bug and Steel-type was now rendered Paralyzed by the Thunder Wave, providing Pika the chance to hit it with two more Brick Breaks before Dark Scizor finally collapsed.

Now that their opponent was defeated, Pika ran to the massive hole in the wall that led back out into the hallway and signaled to Ash and the others that it was now safe. Ash, Misty and Brock hesitantly walked into the room and Misty and Brock recalled their fainted Pokémon.

"Good job, Pika!" Ash said as the yellow rodent climbed up to his shoulder. "And look, that wall is made out of glass."

"Those are windows." Brock pointed out.

"Whatever, it still takes up the whole wall. All we have to do is break through it and we can fly down with Fearow."

"That means we can finally get out of this stupid place!" Misty said excitedly.

"That's right. Now we just need-"

Ash was cut off as a flash of blue light came from outside and a sudden earthquake hit. Ash, Misty and Brock were knocked down to the floor. When they got back up, all they could see outside the windows was blackness as a horrifying roar filled the air.

"W-what's going on?" Misty asked, terrified.

"What… is that thing?" Brock said as he cautiously approached the windows.

"I'm not sure." Ash answered them both. "But… I think I have an idea. There's something that I used to hear stories about when I was younger, but I never thought I'd ever see it myself. A monstrous Pokémon that ravaged Johto before I was even born, but was stopped by my dad and Carmine: The Cianwood Tyranitar."


	67. Chapter 67

"That's it, I've had quite enough of this." Giovanni said as he turned his back on the Cianwood Tyranitar. "Initiate Operation Pay Day."

Mallory pulled out her Pokégear to send the order out for him but was interrupted, as a shard of ice shot past her hand. Giovanni turned around to see that the black Tyranitar had lowered its head to reveal Carmine kneeling there with his Sneasel beside him, ready to launch another attack if necessary.

"Belay that order." Carmine said as he jumped back into the room.

"Come back for more?" Giovanni asked him bitterly.

"Not exactly. You see, I have a bit of a…" he paused, trying to find the right word, "proposition for you."

"I think you mean ultimatum."

"Yes, well, you'd be the expert on that, wouldn't you?"

"Just get on with it."

"Fine, fine." Carmine shrugged. "What I'm offering is a battle, one-on-one. If you win, I'll stop going after you. From that moment on, I promise never to get in your way again so long as you stay out of Pallet Town."

"And if I lose?" Giovanni asked, intrigued that Carmine would be willing to make such a huge gamble.

"You're still the Gym Leader of Viridian City, right?"

"Yes." Giovanni had no idea where Carmine was going with this.

"If you lose, then you will shut down everything involving Operation Payday and remove all of your operations from Saffron City. In addition, the winner will be rewarded with an Earth Badge." Carmine turned to leave back out the window.

"Why would you want an Earth Badge?" Giovanni asked him.

"On the roof, five minutes. If you don't show up, well, my Tyranitar out there can easily take down this whole building with you in it if I give him the order. I'd suggest you show up." With that, Carmine jumped out onto Tyranitar's head, leaving Giovanni to ponder his options.

* * *

"Brock, can you have one of your Pokémon break through the window so that we can get out?" Ash asked Brock.

"Are you crazy?" Was Brock's response. "There's a monster out there."

"It's okay, that thing's on our side. Now, can you break the window or not?"

"Fine." Brock relented. He pulled out one of his Pokéballs and called out Rhyhorn. The gray Pokémon smashed through the windows with its horn, it's tough armor protecting it from the broken glass.

"All right!" Ash yelled excitedly before jumping out the window into the open air, falling between the building and the black Tyranitar.

"Ash!" Misty screamed, running up to the window. She immediately had to take a step back, however, as Ash's Fearow fly up, with Ash riding on its back.

"Come on, grab onto his legs." Ash called out to Misty and Brock. The two hesitated, but knowing that they had no other options, they both jumped out and held desperately onto Fearow's legs. The large bird Pokémon dropped down briefly before flying up even higher.

They flew up above the Cianwood Tyranitar's head, where they found Carmine standing on the flat of its head above its eyes. After circling around a couple times, Fearow landed atop the Tyranitar and the three climbed off of the Beak Pokémon.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked Carmine, noticing the injuries from his earlier brawl.

"I'm fine." Carmine answered without turning around to face them. "What about you?"

"We've been better, but we're alright for now."

"Good. And what about your Pokémon?"

"They should be fine. Why?" Ash asked, confused.

"Because you've got a battle coming up. Now follow me." Carmine lifted up an Ultra Ball and a Skarmory flew out. He grabbed onto the Armor Bird Pokémon's legs and it flew him up to the roof. Ash and the others followed on Fearow.

"What's going on?" Ash asked Carmine as he recalled Fearow back into its Pokéball.

Carmine finally turned around to look at the others as he recalled his Skarmory. "You two." He pointed at Misty and Brock. "You're Gym Leaders, right? What do you know about the Viridian Gym Leader."

All three kids looked at him in confusion.

"Uh… well, he's supposed to be the Ground-type specialist of the region." Misty said hesitantly.

"We've never actually met him." Brock explained. "In fact, I don't think anyone's ever seen him in years. Why?"

"No reason." Carmine turned around again to face the roof access doorway just as it started to creak open. "Oh, look. He's here already."

Giovanni walked out onto the roof, accompanied only by his Persian and looking surprisingly calm given the situation. "Let's get this stupid game of yours out of the way, Carmine. Who is it you want me to beat."

"I believe you mean, 'who do I want you to be beaten by?'." Carmine mockingly corrected him, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Oh, you've got to be joking." Giovanni let out a chuckle. "A child? You do realize how much you're putting at stake with this battle, right? You do know what Operation Pay Day is, don't you?"

"Oh, of course I know. But I know how much you enjoy talking about that master plan of yours so why don't you explain it anyway, so Ash here knows what he's dealing with."

Ash looked back and forth between Carmine and Giovanni, having completely lost track of what was going on. Misty and Brock were similarly confused.

"Alright then." Giovanni turned his attention to Ash and pulled something out of his pocket. "Can you tell me what this is, boy?"

"T-that's just a coin." Ash answered nervously.

"Yes. Specifically, it's the kind of gold coin that the Pokémon known as Meowth keeps on the center of its head. Humans have coveted these simple golden coins since time immemorial, even going so far as to use them as a form of currency, one that is still widely used today. Meowth and their evolved form, Persian, are capable of creating these coins using their special attack, Pay Day. The reason these coins are able to be used as a proper currency even though they can easily be created from almost nothing is because many of these coins are removed from circulation for one reason or another, be they lost, damaged or otherwise just neglected. The number of new coins created remains relatively close to the number of those lost, allowing us to use them as money without worrying about too many being created, which would cause them lose their worth and destabilize the economy. However, if someone were to, say, gather thousands of Meowths and Persians and have them all use Pay Day as much as they can, it wouldn't take more than a few days before they could completely devastate the economy and if you were to equip them all with Lucky Coins, which double the number of coins they can make, then you could do it only half the time. Operation Pay Day is exactly that. If I give the order then I have operatives all over that will order their Pokémon to create as many coins as they can. By the time the sun rises tomorrow morning, the nation's economy would be left in ruins. By the end of the week, the entire planet would be left in utter chaos. And once I beat you, boy, I will give that order."

Ash stared at Giovanni in horror. He wasn't able to fully grasp all of what he had been told, but he knew it was bad. He turned to Carmine to see that the man looked perfectly calm.

"Oh, you won't be giving that order, Giovanni." Carmine said. "You see, Ash isn't just a kid, he's the son of Graham Ketchum."

Giovanni's smile faltered as he recognized that name. "What does it matter who the boy's father was? I will defeat him all the same."

"I've been training Ash personally ever since he started his Pokémon journey. He may have started off rough, but he's come a long way since then and I've seen in him the potential to be even greater than his father was. It's true that I'm putting a lot at stake in this battle, but that's only because I have every confidence in Ash. He can defeat you, Giovanni." Carmine turned to Ash and smiled. "I know you can. Now give him everything you've got."

Ash stared at him, unsure of what to say. Carmine just nodded at him and Ash turned to face Giovanni, who pulled out an Ultra Ball and held it out. A beam of yellow energy shot out and from it materialized the large, imposing form of a Rhydon.

"Come on, boy." Giovanni said. "Show me what you've got."


	68. Chapter 68

Ash inhaled sharply as he tried to build up his courage. Just when he was thinking that this night couldn't get any worse, he somehow got roped into a Pokémon battle against the leader of Team Rocket himself. Ash felt that he was woefully unprepared for this, but he had no choice. Taking another breath, Ash reached down to grab his Krabby's Pokéball and wishing that he had taken his training more seriously and evolved the water-type already so that it would be able to stand a better chance against the powerful Rhydon that served as their first opponent.

"Metal Claw!" Ash yelled as he threw the Pokéball.

Krabby emerged from the Pokéball, leaping towards Rhydon, his right pincer shining a bright silver from the energy of the attack. Rhydon tried to defend against the attack by crossing its arms in a defensive stance, only for Krabby to switch the attack to its other pincer at the last second and hit Rhydon in the stomach with it. Rhydon was forced to take a step back from the attack but quickly regained its balance. It closed its eyes for a second as two rings of glowing white energy surrounded it. Krabby tried to attack with a Bubble Beam but Rhydon's eyes suddenly flashed as its Stone Edge attack was ready and rocks started launching out of light rings, popping all of the bubbles in Krabby's attack as they flew right towards Krabby. Krabby was expecting this, however, and was able to dodge the attack by side-jumping out of the way and he launched another Bubble Beam. Rhydon, furious, tried pelting Krabby with another volley of Stone Edge while preparing its next move Horn Drill.

Rhydon took several steps back and leaned forward to brace itself on its forelegs, assuming a charging stance. Krabby was too busy trying to avoid the Stone Edge to get out of the way of the attack, but to both Krabby and Ash's surprise, Rhydon didn't charge. Instead, Rhydon Pokémon lept forward, spinning in midair so rapidly that it looked as if the Drill Pokémon had become an actual drill. Krabby didn't have time to dodge the attack and there was no way it would be able to take the full force of the blow, leaving Krabby with only one option. If his timing was even a fraction of a second off, then it would be the end for him, but this was no time to second-guess himself. Krabby raised its pincer, which glowed silver in preparation for another Iron Claw. Just as Rhydon was about to reach Krabby, the River Crab Pokémon was able to strike it with Iron Claw, knocking the Drill Pokémon off its projector and knocking it into the floor. Ash and the others had to dodge the debris that flew everywhere as Rhydon crashed through the roof and fell into the building below.

Krabby's whole body began to glow, a sign that it was evolving. Giovanni sent out his next Pokémon, Golem, and had it us Rollout in an attempt to hit Krabby before he could finish his evolution, but was too late. Instead, Golem crashed straight into the newly-evolved Kingler's Metal Claw. The boost in power it gained from both its evolution and its now enlarged left pincer allowed Kingler's Iron Claw to hit even harder than it had against Rhydon, causing Golem to be sent bouncing back in an almost comical fashion, cracking the roof each time it landed before it was able to get back onto its stumpy feet. Kingler sprayed a Bubble Beam from its mouth at Golem. Golem took the attack head-on before retracting its head, arms and legs into its rocky exterior and rolling towards Kingler. Kingler prepared to hit Golem with another Iron Claw, but as soon as the attack landed, Golem used Explosion. Kingler was sent flying into the air before crashing back down next to Ash while Golem was sent rolling out of control, nearly falling off the edge of the roof before Giovanni recalled it.

"Good job, Kingler." Ash whispered as he recalled his Pokémon back into its Pokéball. He was feeling much more confident than at the start of the battle and was beginning to think that he might actually win this.

"Don't let this go to your head." Giovanni warned him. "Just because it seems like your winning now doesn't mean that I will allow you to make any further progress in this fight. I underestimated you, or rather, I underestimated your luck. I will not make that same mistake again."

Giovanni tossed another Ultra Ball, revealing his next Pokémon to be a Nidoqueen. Ash considered which one of his Pokémon to use next and decided on Sandshrew, hoping that the Ground-type would be able to evolve like his Krabby had. The moment Sandshrew set foot on the roof, however, Nidoqueen launched an Ice Beam at it. Ash hadn't been expecting the Poison and Ground-type Nidoqueen to have any Ice-type moves and was thrown off by this, but fortunately, Sanshrew's small size had it easy to dodge out of the way. Before Nidoqueen was able to fire another Ice Beam, Sandshrew used Magnitude, sending a shockwave through the floor beneath him which caused the section of the roof between the spots that Golem had cracked earlier to collapse under Nidoqueen's feet. Nidoqueen tried to jump to safety, but Sanshrew jumped up and slammed into Nidoqueen with a Rapid Spin, causing Nidoqueen to fall below like Rhydon had earlier. Sandshrw began to glow like Krabby had and, sure enough, evolved into a Sandslash.

Giovanni clenched his fists tightly. "It would appear that I was wrong. Apparently I was still underestimating that luck of yours. But we'll see how long that lasts. Blizzard!"

Giovanni sent out a Nidoking, whose horn began to glow light blue as the winds around them started to blow around violently and the temperature dropped substantially. Snow and ice began shooting out of Nidoking's horn and was blown around by the wind, pelting Sandslash mercilessly and not providing any way for him to escape the attack. By the time the Blizzard stopped, Sandshrew had fallen unconscious.

Ash's confidence was beginning to waver again, but he was still winning. Unfortunately, he was running out of good Pokémon to use. Ghastly was his only real option at this point, as Fearow would fall to Nidoking's Blizzard attack as easily as Sandslash had, and Pika and Volty would both be almost useless against Giovanni's Ground-type Pokémon.

It was at that point that Ash realized something. Right before the battle started, Carmine had asked Misty and Brock knew about the Viridian Gym Leader. It seemed random at the time, but Misty had said that he was a Ground-type specialist and so far all of Giovanni's Pokémon had been Ground-types. Did that mean…

"No." Ash told himself. "That couldn't be. But still, it would make sense."

"What are you mumbling about?" Giovanni asked angrily. "Have you realized that you have no hope of defeating me?"

"No." Ash said as he grabbed Gastly's Pokéball off of his belt. "I was just wondering how you can still be so full of yourself when it's so obvious that you're going to lose."

"Funny, I could say the same thing. Now, are you going to send out your next Pokémon anytime soon, or are you just going to admit defeat?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your Ponytas." Ash said as he tossed Gastly's Pokéball. The black and purple Gas Pokémon floated in the air in front of Ash with a confident smile that mirrored Ash's own.

Nidoking took a step forward, but he was too close to the damaged section of the roof, which started to crack beneath him, causing Nidoking to have to step back. This distraction proved disastrous for Nidoking, as it gave Gastly enough time to use Hypnosis. Nidoking was lured to sleep, which allowed Gastly to bombard Nidoking with Nightshade. Nidoking awoke quickly, but Gastly immediately used Confuse Ray, creating a ball of light that flew into Nidoking and inflicted it with confusion. Nidoking's horn started to glow as it tried to use Blizzard again, but due to its confusion, the attack backfired and Nidoking knocked itself flat on its face, causing the roof to collapse underneath him.

"That's an interesting strategy you have." Giovanni said, sounding almost impressed. "With each one of my Pokémon you defeat, you manage to take out more and more of the battlefield, making it harder for my Pokémon due to their large size and heavy weight. Unfortunately, that strategy won't work any longer, as my last two Pokémon are both quite nimble and light on their feet. Now! Go Hitmonlee!"

"A Fighting-type." Ash muttered to himself. "So I was wrong, after all."


	69. Chapter 69

Giovanni's Hitmonlee emerged from its Ultra Ball and landed safely on the damaged rooftop. The Kicking Pokémon's extendable legs allowed it to easily avoid the many holes that littered the area. Despite this, Ash remained confident that at the very least, he had the advantage in the current match-up in that his Gastly would be immune to Hitmonlee's Fighting-type moves. His confidence soon began to waver again as Hitmonlee opened with a Blaze Kick, the flames of the attack being able to burn Gastly, but he held fast.

"Gastly, use Night Shade!"

The Gas Pokémon let out a wave of spectral energy that knocked Hitmonlee back, almost knocking it into the hole behind where it had been standing. But unfortunately for Ash, Hitmonlee proved that its arms were just as stretchy as its legs and it was able to catch itself, dangling from all for limbs over the hole leading down to the floor below. Not wanting the battle to go on any longer than it had to, Gastly decided to use Curse, sacrificing his own health to cause a dark aura to surround Hitmonlee and quickly sap away its remaining health.

"I think we've had enough of this." Giovanni said calmly. "Foresight."

Hitmonlee's eyes suddenly flashed brightly as a strange glimmer passed through them. It launched up into the air and struck Gastly with a High Jump Kick, despite the fact that the move shouldn't have had any effect on him. Knowing that something was wrong, Gastly used Night Shade again in the hopes that it, along with the effects of Curse, would be enough to finish Hitmonlee off. Unfortunately, it was not and Hitmonlee struck him with a Mega Kick. Ghastly didn't have much longer before he would pass out, so he used Lick on Hitmonlee in the hopes that his paralyzing saliva would prevent HItmonlee from attacking again. It didn't seem to have any effect though, as Hitmonlee leapt up into the air for another High Jump Kick. However, Hitmonlee's joints froze up mid-kick, allowing Gastly to hit it with another Night Shade and Hitmonlee was knocked down into one of the holes and crashed into the floor below.

"Hah, take that!" Ash taunted Giovanni. "You're down to your last Pokémon!"

Giovanni smirked. "Are you sure about that?"

Suddenly, Hitmonlee jumped back up and hit Gastly with a Mega Kick, knocking the Gas Pokémon out cold. Ash begrudgingly had to call Gastly back into its Pokéball and send Fearow out into the battle. The large Beak Pokémon fly imposingly over the battlefield as Hitmonlee assumed a crane-stance at it awaited Fearow's first move.

"Use Aerial Ace!" Ash ordered his Pokémon.

Fearow flew up high and then dove back down towards Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee's eyes glowed menacingly as Fearow approached it and suddenly dodged out of the way at the last second, avoiding Fearow's move.

"Wait, what? But Aerial Ace can't be dodged." Ash pointed out in confusion.

"Not under normal circumstances, no." Giovanni laughed. "But with Detect, any move can be dodged. A rare move for Hitmonlee to have, yes, but one that has come in handy a lot over the years."

Ash swore under his breath. "He is good. But I can still win this."

Fearow turned around in the air and flew towards Hitmonlee for another Aerial Ace. Hitmonlee tried to use Detect again but wasn't fast enough. Fearow hit its target squarely in the chest and knocked Hitmonlee onto the ground. Hitmonlee was able to use its momentum to get back up again immediately, however, and hit Fearow with a Mega Kick, knocking the large bird to the ground in the process. Fearow lifted itself up and used Pluck, striking Hitmonlee in the arm with his beak. Hitmonlee winced and tried to hit Fearow with another Mega Kick, but Fearow was able to fly back into the air and dodge the attack before swooping back in for another Aerial Ace. Hitmonlee stumbled back from the blow and walked straight into a hole, falling back down to the floor below. Ash and Fearow both waited for Hitmonlee to jump back up again, but it never did, so Ash looked over at Giovanni who was smirking again.

"Retaliate!" Giovanni yelled as he pointed his finger at Fearow. His Persian, which had been standing idly at his side since he came out onto the roof, suddenly pounced into action, slashing at Fearow with its sharp claws and knocking him out.

Ash held out Fearow's Pokéball and recalled the Beak Pokémon before returning the Pokéball for his belt. His only remaining Pokémon were Pika and Volty. The two were similar in power, with Pika being slightly stronger while Volty was faster and more agile. He wasn't sure which would be the better fit for this fight, but he had to make a decision.

"Pika! Volt Tackle!" He said as he pointed at Persian the same way Giovanni had pointed at Fearow just a moment earlier.

The Electric Mouse Pokémon eagerly ran along Ash's arm and jumped off, surrounding himself in electricity as he hurtled through the air like a rocket and crashed head-first into Persian. The Classy Cat Pokémon stumbled back as the electrical current continued to flow through its body until it dissipated thanks to Persian's Limber ability. Persian's right paw then began to glow with purple energy as it lashed out with a Night Slash. The attack struck Pika across the face, but Pika didn't let it faze him. Instead, he jumped up into the air and hit Persian in the back with a Brick Break. Persian let out a roar and used Feint Attack, disappearing for a second before reappearing behind Pika and hitting him in the back. Pika then used Discharge and jumped up into the air again to hit Persian with another Brick Break. Persian tried to dodge the attack, but the Discharge slowed Persian's reaction time so that it was unable to get out of the way in time and took the full force of the attack.

Persian quickly whipped around and smacked Pika across the face with a Tail Whip followed up with a Bite. Pika tried to use Discharge to force Persian to let go, but instead, the Classy Cat Pokémon tightened its jaw, squeezing Pika even harder. Knowing that there would be no other way to escape, Pika tried one last plan. He let loose a Thunder Shock, aiming straight down Persian's throat and electrifying its insides. This proved to be enough to force Persian to loosen its grip just enough for Pika to force himself out of Persian's mouth and smack Persian in the head with one final Brick Break. Pika retained a defensive position as Persian slouched onto the ground, ready to fend off another attack. But that attack never came.

"I… I don't believe." Giovanni's face had a look of utter shock as he dropped to his knees. "I was beaten… by a child…"

"And of course you remember our agreement." Carmine said.

Giovanni glared at Carmine as his anger returned to him and he got back to his feet. "Of course I do. It will take some time, but all of our forces will be out of Saffron by this time tomorrow. It will be almost as if we were never here."

"And?" Carmine egged him on.

"And I disband all teams assigned to Operation Pay Day. If one day, the economy lies in shambles due to a glaring flaw in the system, it will only be due to the inevitable and not by my hand."

"I believe there was one more thing."

"Fine." Giovanni growled as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small object which he tossed at Ash, who caught it reflexively. "The next time we meet, I will make sure to repay you all a hundred-fold for this humiliation and _you_ , Ketchum boy, will regret the day you _ever_ dared to face me."

With those final words, Giovanni recalled his Persian into its Ultra Ball and headed back into the building the way he had come out. Ash held out his hand, staring at the small object he now held.

"I was right after all." He muttered to himself before turning to show it to Misty and Brock.

"Wait, that's an Earth Badge. Why would he…" Misty didn't need to finish her question.

"Giovanni was the missing Gym Leader." Ash turned to Carmine. "And you knew this whole time."

"Of course I did." Carmine shrugged. "Why else would I have arranged for you to fight him instead of beating him myself? You're probably the first person in years to earn that badge. And that wasn't even a Gym Battle, you beat him head-on in a full-on battle. Admittedly, he only had a few minutes to prepare, so those were probably just the Pokémon he had on hand and not his real battling team, but still. You did good kid. Anyway, we should probably get going now. It wouldn't be a good idea to stick around here for much longer."


	70. Chapter 70

The lush, dark green grass of Route 7 waved gently as it was blown by the night's wind. The sound of flapping could be heard getting closer and closer as two large birds flew in and landed on a small hill across the road from the entrance to the Underground Path. Carmine and Brock climbed off the back of Carmine's Skarmory while Ash and Misty climbed off Ash's Fearow.

"Now what do we do?" Brock asked as the two bird Pokémon were recalled by their owners.

"We wait." Carmine answered. "An old friend is going to meet us here."

"Who?"

"That would be me." Brock, Misty and Ash all turned around to see who had spoken and started to panic as they saw Sabrina slowly walking up to them. "Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you again. Carmine was able to reverse the effects of Team Rocket's brainwashing."

"What?" Ash asked in confusion. "Brainwashing?"

"It's a long story." Sabrina said in place of an explanation. "One which I won't go into detail yet because I'm sure that Lance the other Gym Leaders will want to learn of the events that have transpired tonight. I'm already sent a message to Lance and I'm sure he will be calling an emergency meeting very soon. In fact, we might as well head over to the Indigo Plateau right now. My Alakazam can teleport us all there right now."

"Then what are we waiting around here for?" Carmine asked impatiently. "Let's get going."

"Wait!" Ash shouted without meaning to. Everyone's eyes focused on him, making Ash a little uncomfortable, but he continued. "I want an explanation. What's been going on? Why is the leader of Team Rocket a Gym Leader? Why did you put so much at risk to have me fight him? Why do I suddenly see people's spirits when I close my eyes?"

Carmine and Sabrina both opened their eyes wide in surprise when they heard that last question.

"What do you mean by 'see people's spirits'?" Carmine asked Ash, with a worried tone to his voice.

"I don't know." Ash said. "Whenever I close my eyes I see… colors… where people should be. I can even see through solid objects with it."

Carmine and Sabrina turned towards each other, both recognizing what Ash was describing.

"He can sense Auras." Sabrina confirmed. "I can feel it in him."

"Oh, Lugia." Carmine swore. "And I was so sure he hadn't inherited that."

"What's going on with me?" Ash cried desperately.

"I have good news and bad news." Carmine said as he turned back to Ash. "The good news is that you have a power that very few people in this world have and that will no doubt come in handy countless times as you head into the future. The bad news is that it comes with a great burden of responsibility as well. Your father had, no, has that power and it was the reason he was always going off to help out whenever people were in need before he disappeared. It wasn't just because he was the strongest trainer around and felt he should help people. I mean, it was partly that as well, but the main reason was because it was his duty as an Aura Guardian."

Ash stared blankly into space as he tried to take in what he had just been told. His father had this ability too? Why hadn't anyone told him? "Wait… but does that mean…" Ash started to ask.

"No." Carmine answered before Ash finished his question. "Your father would have gone to investigate Celadon Cave even he didn't have those powers. He still would have disappeared. Anyway," Carmine tried to change the subject, "We should probably be going now. We can figure out what to do about this later."

* * *

Red slowly woke up and opened his eyes. It was still dark out, so he tried to go back to sleep, but it was too late. He was already awake now. He stretched and sat up, looking around. Yellow was still sound asleep in Red's sleeping bag. He really needed to get a new one for her, so that he wouldn't have to keep lending her his bag. He was getting kind of tired of having to sleep on the ground. Red then looked over to Sable who, to Red's surprise, was still wide awake and staring at the campfire, which she must have re-lit after Red went to sleep.

"What are you still doing up?" Red asked the mysterious woman.

"I can't sleep." Sable replied. "But it would appear that I am not the only one with that problem right now."

"I guess not." Red said and he got up and walked over to sit by her.

"Where do you come from?" Sable asked Red as he sat down.

"I'm from Pallet Town, over in the western part of the reason."

"And now you are here, far from home and having to spend your nights in the wilderness. Why is that?"

"I'm on my Pokémon journey." Red explained. "I'm traveling the region to train and earn Gym Badges so that I can enter the Pokémon League and become the Champion."

"But what about her." Sable gestured to Yellow. "Is she also on a Pokémon journey?"

"No, that's a bit complicated. Yellow has no memories of who she is or where she came from so decided to travel with me in the hope that she will be able to find some clue of who she is or someone who knows her."

"But you haven't been able to find anything, have you?"

"Not really." Red admitted. "She has been able to get back little bits and pieces of her memory, but it's mostly just random facts that she knows and nothing that can really help us find out who she is."

"Well, I hope you find something soon. I would like to know why she exists as well."

"What-" Red started to ask, but Sable cut him off.

"Thank you for answering my questions, but I think it's time that you go back to sleep."

"But I'm not… tired…" Red suddenly slouched to the side, resting on Sable's shoulder and fast asleep. The fire blew out as Sable continued to sit there. She stared at Yellow for a moment, before looking up at the treetops nearby, where she was being watched from.

"I know you're there. You may not want to make yourself known just yet, but I know you're watching her. Just like me." Sable didn't say a word and yet the Pikachu was still able to hear her speak. "I'm curious about you, too, but I am willing to wait."

* * *

Gary found himself standing on the beach. The sun shone brightly overhead while the roaring blue waves splashed against the golden sand underneath him. Gary turned around to try and figure out where he was, but then suddenly he felt himself being dragged into the sea by some unknown force. He fought against it but was quickly pulled in under the waves. The force that was pulling him down went away, but Gary was no falling down deeper and deeper into the dark ocean. He tried to swim up, but couldn't move his arms or legs.

Suddenly a massive stone structure came into view and he landed just in front of what appeared to be some sort of ancient temple or palace. He walked through the entrance way into the temple, not paying any attention to the fact that he could suddenly move again. Statues of various Pokémon lined the ornate hallway that led deeper into the temple. The end of the hallway opened up into a large chamber with a throne sitting at the other end, behind which was a giant statue of some ancient king. Gary felt drawn towards the throne and sat down in it. The same mysterious force that had pulled him beneath the waves before suddenly returned. Gary let out a scream and watched as the air bubbles streamed from his mouth.

Gary closed his eyes and opened them to find himself back in his dad's car. Kat and Sue were sitting to either side of him while Mal was in the front passenger seat and Ciel was driving. He looked up at the sky to see that the sun was just starting to rise above the horizon.

'Was that just a dream?' Gary thought to himself. He couldn't remember having a dream that vivid before, but there was no way it could have been real. He wondered briefly if it could have meant something, but quickly put that thought behind him. That was silly, it was just a strange dream, nothing more.


	71. Chapter 71

Wes made his way back to the Adonis Detective Agency just as dawn was breaking. To his mild surprise, Rui was waiting for him just outside the front door, leaning against the doorway. Her Pichu was resting lazily on her shoulder while her Riolu appeared to be having some sort of sparring match with its own shadow against the wall.

"Where have you been?" Rui asked as Wes approached her.

"Out." Was Wes' reply.

"Out where?"

"None of your business, _mom_." Wes said sarcastically but then froze as he realized what it was that he had just said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to compare you to that woman."

"It's fine." Rui replied, apparently not having even realized the connection until he pointed it out. "I knew what you meant. Anyway, Looker wanted to see us. He said it was important."

"Then I guess we better not keep the boss-man waiting much longer. But before that…" Wes walked up to Rui, reaching his hands into his pockets as he leaned up close to her with a sly smile. Rui backed up against the wall and closed her eyes, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes again to see Wes handing Pichu a small treat, which the baby Pokémon accepted greedily. "She looked hungry."

Rui glared at Wes with an expression he couldn't quite read as he stepped away from her.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." Rui replied a little too quickly.

"Eh, whatever." Wes stuck his hands back in his pockets and headed inside.

Rui sighed and brushed off the newly-formed pile of crumbs on her shoulder before heading in after him. Pichu squealed in protest as she was going to save those crumbs as a snack for later. Meanwhile, Riolu remained oblivious to everything around it as it continued its impromptu training session.

* * *

"It's good to see that you are finally here." Looker said as Wes and Rui each took a seat across from him in his office. "Where is it that you have been all night?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out soon." Wes said as he leaned back in his chair. "So where are Lance and that blonde girl?"

"That was certainly an ominous answer." Looker replied uneasily. "Lance is currently on route to the Indigo Plateau for an emergency meeting with his fellow Gym Leaders regarding a number of urgent events that have transpired last night. Apparently, there was some sort of commotion regarding Team Rocket in Saffron City that resulted in massive property damage and there are reports coming in of some kind of massive storm along Route 2 that has completely reshaped the terrain to an almost unrecognizable form."

"What?" Rui gasped.

"Now that is news." Wes said, not yet willing to admit his involvement in the second of those two events.

"Lance will report back to us after the meeting to give us more details about what has happened and what they plan to do about it. As for agent 009…" Looker suddenly lowered his voice. "I have sent her away for the night to gather information about a possible Team Rocket sighting. I do not think she will be able to find any information on it, however."

"And why is that?" Wes asked, intrigued.

"Because I have sent her after a false lead." Looker's explanation caught Wes' attention even more. "You see, I think that we may have a Diglett in our organization."

"What?" Rui gasped again.

"I have had my suspicions about agent 009 for some time." Looker went on. "At first I thought it was my investigative instincts making me distrustful of those around me, but the facts just don't seem to add up and last night's incident in Saffron has proven to be the last piece of evidence I needed."

"I don't follow." Wes sat up in his chair. "Isn't 009 the one who finds most of our intel on Team Rocket's plans? Why would she keep giving us information about them if she's working for them?"

"I thought the same thing. But it has always felt to me like we were missing something. 009 has never revealed to me where she gets her information and what she gives us always feels like it is just a small part of their true plans. It feels as if we are being fed only the information that Team Rocket wants us to know as a form of misdirection. Moreover, during our search for possible leads into Team Rocket's whereabouts, 009 was insistent that she search Saffron City alone and that she found nothing even remotely suspicious there. That itself was cause for concern, being such a large city and the center of commerce for the entire region it seemed out of place that Team Rocket would not have any sort of base there, but based off of what I have now been told it sounds as if the entire city has been under Team Rocket's direct control for some time as their base of operations."

"What?" Wes and Rui both asked in astonishment at the same time.

"Yes, it is very shocking news. I still don't know all of the details as reports are still coming in, but it appears as if they have had the entire city in lockdown several months now and have been operating out of the Silph Corporation headquarters."

"But isn't Silph Corp. the largest company in the area?" Wes asked. "How could they possibly pull that off?"

"Exactly. We should have heard of this sooner. It would appear that the former CEO of the company recently retired and moved away to the Alola region after some sort of corporate buyout. No one was sure who had bought the company from him, but current evidence suggests that it was none other than Giovanni himself."

"This is a lot to take in." Rui commented. "But if this is all true and it turns out that 009 is a traitor, then what do we do now?"

"I am not sure." Looker answered honestly. "For now, we should all just pretend that this conversation never happened. We act as if we know nothing of what happened in Saffron City and do not let her know that we suspect her until we have solid evidence that she is working for Team Rocket so that we can arrest her. Also, in the increasingly likely case that she is working for Team Rocket, 009 would not be a traitor. It would mean that she has never been on our side to begin with."

"I have a question." Wes said. "Why are you letting us in on this? How do you know we're not working for them, too?"

"Wes!" Rui yelled, startled by his question.

"No, he is right." Looker said to Rui before turning his attention to Wes. "The truth is that I don't know for sure that I can trust you and I am taking a considerable risk in telling you all of this. The two of you did take down Cipher last year, but they could have been seen as a rival organization to Team Rocket and Team Rocket seems to have benefited greatly by their downfall, taking a lot of the resources that Cipher left behind as their own. You, in particular, have an extensive criminal record that makes you a difficult man to trust."

"We're not with Team Rocket." Rui was on the verge of tears. "We could never align ourselves with a group like them."

"That may be the case for you, but I did work for a group like them." Wes pointed out. "I was a member of Team Snagem for most of my life. I was raised to steal Pokémon and take whatever I want from others."

"Exactly." Looker said. "So, what argument do you have that I _can_ trust you?"

"All you have is my word." Wes answered sincerely. "I left Snagem because I've come to view my former life as a disgrace. I will never return to thievery and I will never associate with criminals like that again. I've seen the kind of corruption that infects people like Team Snagem or Team Rocket and I no longer want anything to do with it. If the word of an ex-thief can mean anything to you, then you know that I am not with them. Also, Rui here is too much of a goodie-two-shoes to even consider it."

"Hey!"

"What? That was a compliment."

"Thank you." Looker said solemnly. "I already knew that I could trust you, but it means a lot to hear you say it with such passion. That is why I have chosen to confide in you."


	72. Chapter 72

Daisy waited around in the hotel lobby, looking at a large tank full of Water-type Pokémon. She watched the Pokémon swim around for a while before Giselle finally walked out to meet her.

"It's about time." Daisy said as she turned around to great her traveling companion. "What took you so long?"

"Unlike some people, I try to maintain a certain level of…" Giselle searched for the word she felt would be most insulting, "hygiene."

"Whatever." Daisy shrugged, suddenly realizing that she had forgotten to take a shower when she had the chance. "Let's just get going already."

"My, someone's impatient today." Giselle said as the two girls started heading for the exit. "Or are you always like this."

"I'm not impatient, you're just slow." Daisy replied as she reached to open the front door.

"Oh, that's no reason to be mean." Giselle said mockingly.

"You're the one who started it."

"Yeah, well…" Giselle tried to find a good comeback, but couldn't think of anything. "It's not like that really matters. It's not like I've said anything that isn't true."

"Are you looking for a fight?" Daisy asked more seriously than she meant.

"Not with you." Giselle laughed. "There'd be no point to it. I'd just wipe the floor with you."

"What world are you living in? I could beat you easily." Daisy argued. "In fact, I have beaten you."

"You only got lucky that time. Next time we battle, that luck won't last."

"Then why don't we test out that theory of your right now." Daisy said as the two girls reached the outskirts of the city.

"No, it's too early for a rematch." Giselle paused and then added hesitantly. "Besides, I think we'd probably make a better team than rivals."

Daisy and Giselle continued their walk in silence, both unsure of what else to say.

* * *

While Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur were off training with each other in the forests outside of Celadon City, Zoroark chose to rest instead. She sat leaning back against a tree overlooking the city, reflecting back on her life so far. She had been born and raised in the Lostlorn Forest in Unova where her kind had once called home before the humans started settling the nearby areas. Over time more and more of her kind departed the area until their last chief, Zoroark's father, finally declared that they should all leave to find a new home far away from the humans. Zoroark had fought her father on that decision, insisting that they could continue to hide away from humans or even that the humans did not pose as much of a threat against their way of light as everyone thought. She had been unable to change her father's mind on the subject, and so they left. Zoroark's son was still just a newborn at the time and would not have been able to make the trip, so she had stayed behind telling her father that she would follow them once her son was old enough. She had lied and she had paid the consequences for it.

About a year after the others had left, a Pokémon Hunter had arrived in Lostlorn Forest, apparently having heard rumors of the rare Pokémon that lived there. Zoroark had been sure that the illusions placed upon the forest by generations of her people would be more than enough to prevent the hunter from finding her and her son, but they did not hinder her in the slightest. Zoroark had barely been able to avoid capture, but her son had not been so lucky and now Zoroark has spent the months since then trying to track them down so that she could get her son back. It had been tough, but she had finally been able to track down the hunter back on the S.S. Anne, only for her to escape.

Zoroark looked up at the sky above. She was on the other side of the planet from her home. The trees and plants were different, the Pokémon were different and even the human settlement looked different to her somehow. All she could rely on for stability was the sky. It was the only thing here that could remind her of home, of what she had lost due to her own mistakes.

Although she wasn't alone now, she reminded herself. She had friends now. Allies who had agreed to help her in her quest to find her son again. They were a strange trio, but they seemed sincere about wanting to help her and they did help her to recover after the S.S. Anne incident.

Zoroark raised her right paw in front of her face and used her Illusion ability to shift into her current human guise, Zahira Darhk, a younger form of her previous "Madame Darhk" disguise. She could not remember where she had come up with that name, but being able to pass herself off as being human had certainly come in handy.

Zoroark was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a snapping twig behind her. She quickly stood up and turned around to face whoever was there.

"Relax." Said a familiar voice. "It's just me."

Zoroak lowered her guard as Bulbasaur walked up to her.

"I got tired of training, so I came back here to take a nap." Bulbasaur explained. "I don't know how those two hotheads have so much energy. You'd think they never get tired."

Zoroark couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I was the same when I was their age. My brothers and I would get into all kinds of trouble when we were young."

"That's hard to believe."

"And why is that?" Zoroark asked, a little offended.

"I don't know. Probably because I don't really know you that well yet and from what I've seen of you so far you seem pretty reserved."

"Age can do that to a person." Zoroark said. "And the responsibilities of parenthood, as well."

"I can certainly understand that."

"Do you have children?" Zoroark asked, surprised.

"No. But I've been helped raise orphaned Pokémon for… pretty much my whole life."

"That must be a hard responsibility."

"I suppose so, but I've never really let it get to me. Those I've helped are more to me than just Pokémon that have lost their families. They're my friends and I'd do anything to help them out."

"Like how you're helping me?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

* * *

Ash stood in awe of the sight before him, mouth agape. On his right shoulder, Pika had the same reaction. Ash had seen the Indigo Plateau many times in pictures and on TV, but nothing could have prepared him for this moment.

Before Ash stood two large stone archways above the gray tiled pathway that he was standing on. Each side of the path was lined with statues depicting the Pokémon of the Kanto and Johto regions. Beyond the twin arches stood the Pokémon League headquarters. The orange and gray building stood larger than Ash had ever imagined. While it may not have been nearly as tall as the skyscrapers of Saffron City, Ash still felt like he had never seen anything before that could match up to its sheer size.

Ash watched absently as Misty, Brock and Sabrina all walked past him and towards the building as if it were nothing. Ash was then snapped back to his senses as he felt a hand rest on his left shoulder.

"I remember my first time here." Carmine said as Ash turned and looked up at him. "I made my way through Victory Road like any other trainer wishing to enter the League and just as I was about to reach the exit and make my way here, your father caught up to me and I challenged him to a battle. I lost, but we agreed to finish our journey here together, side by side. When we stepped out of the cave… I don't think I can even describe the feelings I had at that moment."

Ash and Carmine continued to stand there looking up at the Pokémon League building with a sense of awe and nostalgia, respectively. It was only when they realized that the others had already entered the building that the two ran to catch up. They reached the doors leading inside and made their way into the foyer.

"Wow." Carmine said as they both looked around. "It's almost exactly as I remember it. I think the only thing that's changed here is the wallpaper. Unfortunately, the pink stripes aren't any less tacky than the baby-blue diamond pattern was."


	73. Chapter 73

Ash sat in a chair in the Pokémon League lobby staring at the dark brown tiled floor. Misty and Brock had left to wait for their meeting while Carmine had run off saying that he had to use the bathroom, leaving Ash alone. The initial excitement of visiting the Pokémon League was starting to wear off and boredom was starting to fill in its place.

"Hey, kid! It's been awhile."

Ash suddenly leapt up to his feet, startled by the unexpected greeting.

"Uh… hi, Surge." Ash said hesitantly as he looked up at the large, intimidating man standing in front of him.

"That's Lieutenant Surge." The Viridian City Gym Leader corrected him.

"I'm sorry, Lt. Surge." Ash apologized nervously. He could feel his legs shaking beneath him

Lt. Surge started laughing heartily and slapped Ash on his empty shoulder. "I'm just messing with you. There's no need to be that formal. So, how's my old Pikachu doing, anyway? Have you managed to teach Volty how to use Volt Tackle yet?"

"Uh…" Ash trailed off. "No. I kind of forgot that I was supposed to do that."

Ash reached down to Volty's Pokéball resting on his belt and held it out. He pressed the button on its front and the red beam of energy shot out towards his shoulder, where Volty materialized and gave an energetic "Chu, Pi!"

Lt. Surge laughed even harder. "That's fine. To be honest, I never really expected you to. I thought she'd be happier with you then she was with me and it looks like I was right about that."

"Thank you."

Volty smiled and let out sparks from her cheeks as Lt. Surge patted her gently on the head.

"You've done a fine job of taking care of her so far. She looks to be quite healthy and happy."

"Thank you." Ash said again.

"I'd like to stay and chat longer, but I should probably go see the other Gym Leaders. I don't want to keep anyone waiting."

With that, Lt. Surge waved goodbye and headed towards the back where Misty and Brock had gone earlier, leaving Ash alone again with his Pokémon, but feeling a lot better about himself than he had before. Ash hadn't even realized how much the events of the previous night had affected him until that moment.

The two Pikachu on Ash's shoulders jumped down onto the floor and started playing as Ash sat back in his chair. He briefly wondered how long the meeting was going to take, or at least how long it would take for all of the Gym Leaders to get there. "Then again," he thought to himself, "not all of the Gym Leaders _will_ be here, will they. After all, the main reason they're even having this meeting in because of Giovanni."

* * *

"I expected this place to be more like a cave." Sable commented as she, Red and Yellow entered the Underground Path to Celadon City. Bright lights hung from the steel walls, shining down onto the wooden floor which was brown, save for the two stripes painted along it, one blue and the other red.

"So you've never been down here before?" Red asked her.

"No." Sable said. "I've never had the chance before. It would appear that I haven't missed anything, though."

"Yeah, not really." Red agreed. "The other Underground Path was a lot like this, too. That's why we're going to use Teleport so that we can get across quickly. Speaking of which it's probably time to get Abraham out."

"Right." Yellow said as she held out a Pokéball. The yellow Psi Pokémon suddenly appeared hovering in the air in front of her before she even pressed the button. "Come on."

It only took a few minutes before the group had made their way all the way to the other side and headed up the staircase leading to Route 7.

"That probably would have taken us at least all day if we had walked the whole way." Red said as they took their first steps back outside again.

"Yeah." Yellow agreed. "It's a good thing we have Abraham to help us out." She squeezed the sleeping Pokémon tightly, but Abraham didn't seem to mind or notice.

"You seem quite attached to that Abra." Sable noticed.

"Yeah, he's a good friend and he helps us out a lot. He's also the only Pokémon that I've ever caught, even if it was only by accident."

"Maybe there are no such things as accidents."

"What do you mean?" Red asked Sable, but she didn't answer.

"I like Maggie, too." Yellow said. "But I didn't catch her and she hasn't been as fun since she evolved. She's so big now that I haven't even had a chance to let her out in a while."

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to play with her again soon." Red reassured her. "But in the meantime, we've almost reached the city."

Sure enough, they were just approaching the edge of Celadon City. Though it was hard to tell, as most of the buildings were painted a dark green color that blended in partially with the trees that surrounded the city on all sides. Some buildings on the other side of the city stood noticeably taller than the rest.

"Celadon City. The city of rainbow dreams." Sable said. Red and Yellow turned their attention to her and she pointed to the large sign she had just read aloud. "That's what it says, anyway."

"Well, hopefully, it can help us reach our dreams." Red spotted the familiar orange roof of a Pokémon Center amid all the green and set off towards it. "Come on, this way."

* * *

Hanami floated in the air above Ash, looking around at her surroundings. She had head people mention the Pokémon League over the years but had never imagined that she would even visit it herself. Much had changed in the centuries since she had lived and a building like the one she was in now couldn't have even been dreamed of in her time. Things like electric lighting and air conditioning were completely new concepts to her and just the one room was larger than any of the buildings in her village had been. The other buildings they had been to were similar in a lot of regards, but she hadn't really had much of a chance to admire them due to the dire circumstances.

She looked down at Ash sitting beneath her. Hanami had only been following him for a couple days now and yet it already felt much longer. She wondered if his life was always this busy, it was certainly more exciting than her life had ever been, at any rate. Traveling around the region, meeting new people and facing new challenges as he went. She had never even left her home village before now. She felt for a moment that she would never get used to how different things were now than in her time, but that thought was interrupted.

"…"

Hanami turned around quickly. She thought for sure that she had heard someone speak, but there was no one there.

"…"

The sound came again, slightly louder. Like someone calling out from the distance. Hanami couldn't tell what had been said, or who had said it, but there had definitely been a voice. A deep, rasping voice calling from far away. Hanami felt a shiver run through her, but it wasn't cold and even if it was, a ghost wouldn't be affected by it. Without thinking, she began to recite an ancient prayer she had not heard in many centuries.

"Lords of Ice, Lighting and Fire,  
Sons of the Silver Flier,  
The beatings of thy wings spread winds of fate across the land,  
And the birds sing thy praises,  
A shadow of destruction falls upon us now which we cannot withstand,  
Unless we rely upon thy strength and darkness thy power razes."

She did not know if the Legendary Birds could truly hear her prayer or not, but she felt a warm feeling of peace pass over her as soon as the words left her intangible lips. There was something big on its way. Something that she was sure no one was prepared for. But she felt confident, at least for the moment, that they could make it through whatever was coming. She only hoped that it would not come without too great a cost.


	74. Chapter 74

Carmine stepped out of the bathroom and stretched his arms up high while yawning. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, which was normal for him but combined with all of the action as of late was starting to wear him down. He decided that he would lie down and try his best to take a nap while the Gym Leaders had their meeting.

"I really should get a Hypno one of these years." Carmine muttered to himself. "I don't know why I've been putting it off so long."

A loud beeping noise suddenly went off, startling him. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out his Pokégear, checking who was calling him.

"Well, there goes my nap." He sighed before answering the call. "I had a feeling I'd be getting this call. Though I thought it would take a bit longer."

"You sound almost amused." Looker said from the other end of the call.

"No, I'm just kind of tired. Anyway, I'm guessing this is about last night?"

"You would be correct in that guess, but you already knew that. There are multiple eye-witness accounts of a giant, black Pokémon rampaging through the streets of Saffron City in the early hours of the morning. I think it is safe to assume that we both know what Pokémon that was."

"It sounds like your eye-witnesses need to get their eyes checked." Carmine replied. "There was no rampaging going on."

Carmine's comment was met with an uncomfortably long silence.

"But yeah, it was the Cianwood Tyranitar. We had a bit of a skirmish with Team Rocket. I tried to keep the property damage to a minimum, but we did cause quite a bit of damage to the Silph Corp. building. And Tyranitar probably did some damage to the nearby streets, now that I think about it. He's kind of heavy."

"I want a full report." Looker said dryly. "Now."

"Fine, fine. I'll tell you what I know."

* * *

Looker pondered everything he had just been told as he put his phone down. Giovanni was a Gym Leader? That was big news. And he had been beaten by a child? He could barely even process that part. This "Ash" that Carmine talked about must be some kind exceptional trainer to pull that off. Although now that he thought about it, Looker remembered that he had already met Ash, right after the incident at Mt. Moon not too long ago, and his name had been on the passenger list for the S.S. Anne. That boy had had more run-ins with Team Rocket since Looker entered the country than Looker himself at this point.

"I should run a background check on him." Looker said to himself. "To learn who that kid actually is. The knowledge could prove valuable."

There was a knock at the door to Looker's office. He called for the person to come in and 009 opened the door.

"You called for me, sir?" She asked calmly, as if nothing had happened.

"Come in, take a seat." Looker gestured towards one of the old, green chairs in front of his desk and waited for her to sit down in it. "What do you have to report?"

"Nothing, sir." 009 answered. She was a hard person to read, but Looker was starting to understand her better and it was becoming obvious that she was intentionally hiding something. "Everything's quiet except for a small earthquake near Saffron City. I also heard something about a storm over on Route 2."

Looker stared at the girl for a moment. "Was there anything unusual about the earthquake?"

"No, sir. It was just an earthquake. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it was caused by the Diglett and Dugtrio that inhabit Diglett's Cave."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well, the storm at Route 2 would have happened just outside the cave's northern entrance. It's possible that the storm could have scared the Diglett and Dugtrio inside the cave and caused them to stampede through their tunnel networks, which in turn could lead to a potential increase in seismic activity in the area."

"Yes, that would make sense." Looker said. It was a sound theory, but her delivery sounded almost rehearsed. She had been anticipating that question and had already come up with her reply. Looker was more sure than ever that she was a spy, but what he wasn't sure of yet was whether to confront her about it now, or bide his time and wait later. He opted for the latter option.

"Very well. I want you to investigate that storm. From what I've been hearing about it, it sounds like it may not have been a natural occurrence. If so, I want to know what caused it and why."

"Yes, sir." 009 stood up and turned to leave. Looker watched the girl as she walked out of his office.

"I wonder…" He muttered. "How long as she been with them? She's not that old. She's still only in her teens. How young was she when she joined?

* * *

Pikachu ran along the rooftops of Saffron City. She would prefer to travel through the woods than the city, but she didn't really have a choice right now. She knew that Yellow would already be on the other side of the city by now and she had to get back to her as quickly as possible. She didn't trust the new woman that was traveling with Yellow. Something about her seemed… off. Pikachu was sure that the woman had somehow known she was there waiting in the treetops last night and that made her uneasy. She had also not been able to make contact with Abraham since the woman showed up, almost as if she was somehow interfering with their mental link somehow. The woman was dangerous, Pikachu knew that much. But was she actually hostile or not? Pikachu had no way of knowing the woman's intentions or not. She could be a threat, but was that her intention?

Pikachu decided to put away those thoughts for now. Her priority was to catch back up to them. There was nothing that she could do to protect Yellow unless she was there with her to do it. Then again, was there anything she could do even if she was there? Pikachu's attacks had proven utterly useless again the one she wanted to protect Yellow from and the boy, Red, had so far proven capable of protecting her from everything else on his own. In fact, Pikachu wasn't sure that she had actually managed to accomplish anything whatsoever since the destruction of their home other than just follow Yellow and she hadn't been doing a very good job of that either. The only reason she had not already completely lost Yellow possibly for good was thanks to Abraham, and it looked as if she would not be able to rely on his help any longer.

"Maybe it's time." Pikachu said to herself as she rested for a moment on the edge of a roof. "Time that I actually meet up with her in person. But then again, how will she react? She won't remember who I am. She doesn't even know that he is after her, or why."

Pikachu sighed and leapt over to the next building. It was no use wondering at this point. It was only a matter of time before she would have to make her presence known, so it might as well be sooner, rather than later. There was no telling what kind of complications it could cause, but then again not revealing herself could also cause problems down the line. She had finally made up her mind, she would reintroduce herself to Yellow as soon as she had the chance.

"Hello."

The unexpected greeting caught Pikachu off guard, causing her to trip and fall off of the ledge she had been running along. She managed to grab hold of the ledge and keep herself from falling down to the ground below as she looked up at the serene smiling face staring at her.

"You." Pikachu said, startled. "But how? Why?"

"I told the others that I wanted to look around on my own for a little bit before I meet up with them again later. Which is actually true, for the most part." Said Sable, who was looking back down at Pikachu from the roof. Or at least that's what Pikachu thought at first, but then she relieved that Sable wasn't on the roof, she was floating in the air across from it.

"How are you…?"

"I'm here because I have some questions for you." Sable interrupted. "And I'm sure you have quite a few questions of your own, so why don't we help each other out?"

Pikachu felt her strength fail her and she lost her grasp on the edge of the roof. She closed her eyes as she fell, not wanting to see the end. But then she opened them again when she realized that she wasn't actually falling. She was floating in the air, like Sable.

"What's going on?"

"I'll take that as a yes."


	75. Chapter 75

"Well, it looks like we're all finally here." Lance stood at one end of a long table and looked around the conference room they were in. Every Gym Leader of the Kanto region, save for Giovanni, sat around looking back at him. "Which means we can get started with this meeting. Now, I know some of you already know what this is about, but for those who don't, I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news. You see, it has recently been discovered that the leader of the criminal organization known as Team Rocket is in fact none other than Giovanni Rozzo, leader of the Viridian Gym."

The sound of murmuring reverberated throughout the room and the Gym Leaders quietly discussed this sudden revelation amongst themselves.

"This news has come as a great shock to all of us and naturally we must react to it. Giovanni will be removed from his position of Gym Leader as soon as possible and a new Gym Leader will be appointed in his place. In addition, we will be changing the requirements for obtaining Gym Leader status by adding more comprehensive background checks in order to assure that something like this will never happen again. Does anyone here have objections to these policy changes or any comments they would like to add?"

Lance looked around again for a moment, but no one spoke up. "Alright then. In that case, we will move on to the next item on our agenda. There are a number of situations that must be attended to, which the other members of the Elite Four and I have made assignments for. First off, a mysterious storm has caused the northern entrance to Diglett's Cave to collapse on Route 2. Bruno, Flint and Brock are to go there and rebuild the cave's entrance and investigate what happened there. Lt. Surge and I are to assist Sabrina in overseeing the reconstruction effort of Saffron City. Lorelei, Daisy, Lily, Violet and Misty are to investigate the wreckage of the S.S. Anne to see if there are any possible clues as to what Team Rocket might be planning. Everyone else should return to their regular Gym Leader duties. Now, if no one has anything else to add, then this meeting is now adjourned."

* * *

"Stop the car!" Kat shouted as Mal drove past some sort of old, decrepit looking theater house along the side of Route 15.

"Why?" Mal asked her as she slowed the car to a stop.

"Trust me. Gary's going to want to check this place out."

"What are you talking about?" Gary asked her, thinking that his cousin must have gone crazy.

"You'll see." Kat smiled and tilted her head to the side mischievously as she opened the car door to get out.

Gary looked up at the run-down building before him as he got out of his father's car. The old theater was painted white and red, which looked like it had once been bright and vibrant but was now faded and peeling off of the rotting woodwork. A sign hung up above the front door, but it was too damaged for Gary to be able to read it.

"What is this place?" Gary wondered aloud.

"Why don't you go in and find out?" Kat suggested as she climbed back into the car. "We'll wait for you."

"Fine. But if I die in there, it's your fault!" Gary sighed and turned back to the building. He walked up to the staircase leading up to the front doorway and lightly set foot on it. The stairs seemed sturdy enough, so he walked up and entered the theater house.

The interior was dark and dusty as if the building had been abandoned long ago. Gary honestly had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for in there. Some kind of rare Ghost Pokémon, maybe? He pulled out a Pokéball and called out one of the newer additions to his Pokémon team.

"Go, Growlithe."

The Fire-type Puppy Pokémon landed on the creaky old floor. He sniffed the air and let out a small howl before breathing out a small stream of flame to light up the dark theater.

"Whatever's in here had better be worth it." Gary muttered to himself as he and his Growlithe made their way deeper into the run-down building.

* * *

"Wait, you're both leaving?" Ash asked Misty and Brock once they had returned and told Carmine and himself about the meeting.

"Yeah." Brock shrugged. "But we'll meet back up with you once we're done with our assignments."

"This is so unfair." Ash complained. "Why do you both have to go?"

"Because they both have obligations as Gym Leaders to help wherever they are needed." Lance said as he walked up to the group before turning his attention to Ash. "So you must be this Ash everyone's been talking about. I've heard that you've been shaping up to be quite the skilled trainer. I hope that you'll stop by my Gym after this whole Team Rocket situation has been dealt with so that we can have a battle. I'm looking forward to it."

And with that, Lance turned around with a swish of his cape before giving Ash a chance to respond.

"Wow." Misty's jaw hung slightly ajar and she and Brock both stared at Ash in amazement. "I've never seen Lance send anyone a challenge like that before. That's amazing."

"You've certainly come a long way since I beat you in our first match." Brock added.

"It doesn't mean much." Carmine said. "It's still just a Gym Battle. A test of strength to make sure that a Pokémon Trainer has reached a certain level of ability."

"Well, I'm still going to beat him." Ash said defiantly. "No matter how strong he is."

"Were you even listening to me?" Carmine asked.

"I should probably be going now." Brock said. "I don't want to keep the others waiting. See you again soon!"

Brock shook Ash's hand and headed off towards where his father and Bruno were waiting for him, waving goodbye. Ash, Carmine and Misty watched as they headed out the door before Misty and Ash turned to each other.

"I should be heading out too. My sisters can get kind of impatient sometimes." Misty turned to leave.

"Hold on." Ash said, grabbing her wrist to stop her. "Before you go, I wanted to give you something."

"What?" Misty couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"Volty." The two Pikachu resting on Ash's shoulders both turned to their trainer in surprise from this unexpected turn of events.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"I want you to take Volty with you, at least until we meet up again. After all, you gave me Krabby the last time you left us."

"I suppose that is true." Misty sighed. "I guess you've got a deal."

Ash pulled out Volty's Pokéball and handed it to Misty. Pika and Volty quickly touched their noses together and let off a fly of sparks from their cheeks to say goodbye, almost lighting Ash's hair on fire, before Volty hopped off of Ash's shoulder and into Misty's outstretched arms.

"I promise to take good care of her." Misty said as she turned to go. Pika and Volty both reached out to each other as a final parting as Misty walked away.

"Well." Carmine said awkwardly. "I can't say that I expected any of that, and now I forgot what I was going to say. Oh, right, I was going to tell you that I think we should spend this time focusing on your training. Things are only going to get harder from here on out and who knows what other unexpected situations we're going to face in your journey. You need to be ready for any challenges you may encounter."

"Sounds like a plan." Ash agreed.

"Good. But before that, we should probably get some rest. I don't think either of us has gotten any sleep in a while."

The mere mention of sleep suddenly caused Ash to be overwhelmed by a sudden wave of fatigue. He had not realized before that point how tired he was, but now it was all he could think about.

"Yeah." Ash yawned. "We should do that."

"Come on. I'm sure there should be someplace to rest _somewhere_ around here."


	76. Chapter 76

Red and Yellow walked into the Celadon City Pokémon Center and headed for the front desk. The nurse there asked if Red wanted his Pokémon healed, as per usual. After the nurse healed Red's Pokémon and handed them back to him, they walked over to the lounge area. A couple couches sat around a glass table and off in the corner of the room was a PC meant for public use. The PC had a paper taped onto its screen saying that it was out of order and someone appeared to be tinkering with its inner wires and circuitry. Red felt like he had seen the man before.

"Bill?" Red asked hesitantly.

The man tried to stand up but accidentally hit the back of his head hard against the underside of the keyboard. He then made sure to back away from the computer and stood up slowly, clutching the back of his head, and turned around. Sure enough, it was the same man that they had helped out back at the lighthouse on Cerulean Cape.

"Oh, hi!" Bill said once he recognized Red and Yellow. "Fancy seeing you around here."

"Hi!" Yellow said cheerfully.

"What are you doing here?" Red asked.

"This old PC here isn't working right, so they've asked me to come in and take a look at it. For some reason, it won't seem to connect to Pokémon Storage System, so trainers can't use it to deposit or withdraw their Pokémon and who better to ask to fix that kind of problem than the guy who created the system in the first place?"

"You created the Pokémon Storage System?" Red asked in astonishment.

"Or at least the current system, sort of. I led the development team that created it, but most people tend to forget about the people I worked with. I'm also the administrator for the system here in Kanto and also in Johto."

"Why didn't you mention that when we met before?"

"I guess it just never came up." Bill shrugged. "So how have you been, anyway?"

"Fine." Red answered. "We were just going to explore the city a bit before I take on the Gym."

"Well good luck with that. I think the local Gym specializes in Grass Pokémon."

"Well, that should be pretty easy to take on with my Charmeleon." Red said, then sighed. "Although I suppose I should still work on catching more than just two Pokémon."

"Two?" Bill seemed confused. "I remember seeing your account in the storage system just recently and you had more than that."

"Only half of my team right now is actually mine." Red explained. "Two of them are Yellow's, but she can't actually have Pokémon of her own yet."

Yellow grinned and held up her two Pokéballs. "These are Maggie and Abraham."

Bill thought for a moment. "You know, you could probably get a permit for her to have her own Pokémon."

"A what?" Red asked flatly.

"A Trainer's Permit. It's kind of a new thing, so I wouldn't be too surprised if you haven't heard of them before, but it's now possible for those under age to have Pokémon. They can't battle and they don't have access to the storage system, though. Normally you'd need the permission and supervision of a parent or guardian that has a license, but I might be able to pull some strings for you and see if she can get one."

"Really?" Red and Yellow both asked.

"Yeah, sure. It's the least I can do for when you helped me out before."

"Thank you." Said Red.

"I'm so excited!" Yellow jumped with joy.

* * *

"Okay, I think that should be enough for now." Squirtle said as he fell onto his back from exhaustion.

Charmander sat down next to Squirtle with a groan. "Why do we have to train so hard?" He whined.

"Because it is the only way to assure that we will be able to take on any challenge that comes our way and always come out on top. Although I think we've reached a point where we can continue our journey for at least another Gym or two."

"Thank Arceus." Charmander laid back with his stubby arms underneath his head and his tail resting by his side. "I feel like I could just fall asleep right now and not wake up again for days."

"I feel similarly, but we do need to get back up in the morning to start making our way to the next town and with it the next Gym."

The two Pokémon stared up at the morning sky for a while in contemplative silence.

"Do you think we'll really be able to do it?" Charmander asked.

"Of course we will." Squirtle replied. "But only if we believe that we can."

"You always manage to be so confident and brave. Where does your courage come from?"

Squirtle reflected for a bit before answering. "I've mentioned before that when I was young I had a trainer, a young girl by the name of Samantha. She had been dangerously sick for her entire life and yet never gave up hope no matter how bad things got. In order to honor her legacy I've vowed to always do the same."

"Wow." Was all Charmander could think to say to that.

"Also, we both watched a lot of anime and I always looked up to the heroes that never gave up even in the face of danger. We'd dress up as the characters a lot and play out our favorite scenes together. That's actually where my sunglasses came from. They are a replica of the pair worn by our favorite character."

"Do you ever miss her?"

"Always."

Pikachu sat on the roof of the Celadon City Pokémon Center, staring at her paws and contemplating everything that she had just learned. It was a lot to take in and yet somehow she knew, almost instinctively, that it was all true. She became filled with renewed doubts. She wanted to reach out to Yellow and make her presence known but she was sure that this was not the time to do so.

She mentally slapped herself for thinking that. She should reach out to Yellow and join her properly but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She was scared. Scared that the girl now calling herself Yellow would not be the same as when they had grown up together. The girl still had no idea of who she was, or what she was, and with what Pikachu had just learned she was now more uncertain than ever.

"Why is this so hard?" Pikachu complained to herself. "She's basically right there beneath me and yet I just can't do it. What's wrong with me?"

"I think only you could answer that question."

"Go away. I want to be by myself. Besides, shouldn't you go back to the others before they get suspicious from your absence?"

"Why would they be suspicious? They just think that I'm looking around a city I've never been to before. But I suppose if you want to be alone then I won't bother you anymore."

Pikachu sighed and turned around just in time to see a bright pink flash of light and the one she had been talking to was gone. She heard the sound of the Pokémon Center doors opening and she knew that "Sable" was about to rejoin Red and Yellow.

"Why did he have to mess things up?" Pikachu asked herself. "We had all been so happy before he had to tear us all apart. They had a good life, all things considered, but then he had to go and blow everything up. Literally. Their home was gone. Their friends were gone. As far as Pikachu knew, she and Yellow had been the only ones to survive his rampage. And now all she could do was do her best to make sure that he never found them again, even though she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop him if he did. He was too strong, more powerful than anyone else she knew. Although, that might not be the case anymore. It was possible that she did know someone who was at least close to matching his level now. Maybe she would be able to do a better job of protecting Yellow than Pikachu could. But then again, would she even try to? "I wish that something would happen. Something that would let us be able to stop him."


	77. Chapter 77

After walking all morning, Daisy and Giselle found themselves entering a small town.

"What is this place?" Giselle wondered aloud.

"Well, according to my map this should be… Mossgreen Village." Daisy said as she held out her Town Map while trying to keep Cleffa held up with one of her arms.

"Never heard of it." Giselle placed her hands behind her head as they continued walking.

"Well, this doesn't look like a particularly important place." Daisy stuffed her map back in her bag. "Let's just keep going."

"Hold up." Giselle suddenly stopped and held her arm out in Daisy's way. "Do you see what I see?" She pointed to a large building at the other side of the village.

"What?" Daisy asked before taking a look at the building Giselle was pointing towards. Wait, is that a Gym?"

"It sure is. Come on, let's go." Giselle suddenly started running towards the Gym, forcing Daisy to have to try and keep up with her.

"Slow down! Running like this will be bad for Cleffa!" Contrary to Daisy's claims, Cleffa was squealing gleefully, clearly enjoying itself a lot.

"Come on, already!" Giselle yelled back to her. "You'll never get anywhere if you keep going at that pace!"

* * *

Giovanni walked into a dark room and moved his hand against the wall, looking for the light switch. When he found it, he flipped the switch and the lights came on, illuminating the room. White sheets covered all of the furniture and contrasted heavily with the black walls, carpet and ceiling. He walked over to the center of the room and pulled the sheet off of a desk chair, and then another off of the desk in front of it. He sat down at the chair and looked around at his old office. It had been a long time since he had made use of it, but he had no choice now that he had lost Saffron City.

The lights flickered, irritating Giovanni. He would have to get the bulbs replaced, not that it was much of a surprise. They would need to make a lot of renovations to get this old base back into working order. If only he hadn't lost that battle.

"How _did_ I lose?" Giovanni whispered to himself. "He was just a child who hasn't even been a Pokémon Trainer for more than a few months at most. I should have been able beat him easily. I know I wasn't exactly using my best team, but still…"

"You wanted to see us, Sir?" Asked James, as he Jessie and Meowth stood at the entrance into Giovanni's office.

"Yes." Giovanni motioned for them to come in. "I have your next assignment. I want the three of you to meet up with the Iron-Masked Marauder and investigate a cave north of Cerulean City. It is known as the Cerulean Cave, though the locals sometimes refer to it as the Unknown Dungeon. I've already briefed the Marauder and he will be able to fill you in on the details of the mission. Now go!"

"But what about the others?" Jessie asked.

"Agent Masque, Butch and Cassidy are running surveillance around the base in order to check for possible security breaches. Attila and Hun haven't reported in since we relocated here this morning. If they don't show up soon then they will be considered AWOL and will be punished accordingly when we finally find them. Now, I believe I told you three to go."

The trio exited Giovanni's office and stopped at the other end of the hallway.

"What kind of punishment do you think Giovanni has in mind for them?" Jessie asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Meowth asked. "The sames as whats happensed ta da others. Make 'em dark or whatever it is thats they dids ta dem."

All three shuddered at the thought of it.

"Something about them just doesn't feel right anymore." James said. "It's almost like they aren't even human anymore."

"I know what you mean." Jessie agreed. "Which means we should focus on our new assignment so that he doesn't have any reason to do it to us."

"Whys do yas think we's going ta some old cave?" Meowth asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out soon enough."

* * *

Professor Oak sat at the desk in his study sorting through old research papers when the phone started ringing. He put down the paper on sleeping disorders in Snorlax that had been written by an old colleague of his known as Professor Xalrons and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this Professor Oak of Pallet Town?" Oak didn't recognize the man's voice.

"Yes, now who's calling?"

"My name is Looker. I was wondering if I could set an appointment to meet with you." Oak felt like he had heard that name before, but couldn't think of where it was from.

"What about?" The Professor asked.

"I wish to discuss one of your former students. A boy by the name of Ash Ketchum."

"Why?" Professor Oak's voice carried his concern. "Has he done anything wrong?"

"No, he has not done anything wrong. In fact, it is quite the opposite. If we could set up a meeting, I will explain what's going on."

"Hold on a moment…" Professor Oak said. "I think I know where I've heard you're name before. You're an agent for the International Police, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." Looker answered. "And I have a lot I wish to discuss with you in regards to my current investigation. I will fill you in on the details when we meet."

Professor Oak sighed and checked the calendar he had sitting on his desk. "It looks like I'm free tomorrow. Stop by anytime you want."

"Thank you, Professor. I'll see you tomorrow."

Professor Oak heard the phone hang up and placed it back down again. He turned his chair around and stared out the window at the clear blue sky.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Ash?" He wondered aloud.

A glimpse of silver reflecting the sun's light caught the Professor's attention and he immediately stood up and headed for the door. He ran outside.

"Get out of here!" He yelled as he ran up to a large silver and gray Pokémon. "Go on, get going!"

"Aggron!" The towering Steel-type bellowed as it turned around and rushed back to the way it had come.

"I swear." Professor Oak muttered to himself as he watched the Aggron flee. "That thing just keeps showing up and trying to break into my breeding grounds. Where did it even come from, anyway? Aggron don't even live anywhere near here."

* * *

Giselle reached the front door of the Gym and waited for Daisy to catch up to her. Once Daisy was there, Giselle reached for the door and tried to open it, only to find that it was locked.

"Hey, what gives?" Giselle yelled as she tried to force the door open.

"I guess they're not open right now. I guess you can't really expect the Gyms to be open _all_ of the time."

"Well, they should be! Trainers could show up at any time, you know. Like right now."

"Hold on, hold on!" Came a woman's voice from off in the distance. Daisy and Giselle both looked over to see a young woman with dark green hair running up to them. When she reached the Gym, she stopped to catch her breath, panting heavily as she clutched her knees. "Sorry about that." She said at last as she reached into her pocket and fumbled around for something. She pulled out a small white keycard and held it up to the door.

The door unlocked with a small beeping noise and the woman opened the door, walking inside and motioning for the girls to follow her. Together they walked into the Gym's interior which looked like the Gym had not been properly maintained in a long time. Moss and weeds were growing around everywhere.

"I'm so sorry about that." The woman said as she turned to face Daisy and Giselle. "I was at a meeting. Anyway, my name is Cassandra and I'm the Gym Leader here. I'm guessing one of you wants to challenge me?"

"Both of us, actually." Daisy said.

"Okay then. So who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Giselle reached her hand high into the air reflexively. "I'll go!"


	78. Chapter 78

"Well, this whole trip has been a waste of my time." Gary said bitterly as he and his Growlithe continued wandering around the abandoned theater. "Seriously, why did Kat send me in here?"

Gary turned around and began walking back towards the entrance. A loud screeching sound suddenly filled the entire theater, followed by what sounded like old circus music.

"What's going on?" Gary wondered aloud as he jumped up from fright.

He stood there nervously, looking around to see if he could see the source of the music and noticed that there were speakers set up all around. There were wires sticking out of the speakers that trailed along the ceiling. Gary motioned for Growlithe to follow him as he started following the cords. They lead him to the main stage of the theater, where a single spotlight shone down on an old gramophone playing into a microphone.

"What in the-" Gary started to say, but was interrupted as the music came to a sudden halt and the spotlight went out for a second.

When the spotlight lit up again, the gramophone was gone. In its place stood Kat, holding the microphone and looking up at Gary.

"Welcome, welcome, to the House of Amity! I see we have a guest today. Here to challenge your skills, are you?"

Gary stared at Kat in confusion and shock. "Kat? What are you doing down there? Is this some kind of game to you?"

Kat continued staring up at Gary, a sly smile on her face. The spotlight went out again and when it came back on, Gary couldn't believe his eyes.

"Kat? What kind of idiot are you? The name's Gary. Gary Oak. And one day I'll be the Pokémon Master."

Gary stared down at his doppelganger, no longer sure what to make of anything.

"What?"

* * *

"So who's up first?" Cassandra asked Daisy and Giselle once they were all inside of the Gym

"I'll go ahead and let you go first." Giselle said to Daisy. "And when you lose, I'll already have an idea of what her strategy is like when it's my turn."

"Gee, thanks for the vote in confidence." Daisy rolled her eyes before walking up to Cassandra. "I have four Gym Badges already."

"Okay then. This will be a three-on-three battle. We'll get started as soon as you're ready."

Daisy turned back to Giselle and smiled mockingly. "When I'm done with this battle, I don't think there'll be any point in you even trying." She couldn't quite read the expression on Giselle's face. "Anyway, let's do this."

Daisy called out her Vulpix, while Cassandra opened with a Butterfree.

"I hope you'll actually listen to me this time." Daisy muttered before giving her Pokémon a command. "Fire Spin!"

The Fox Pokémon spat out a cyclone of fire that blasted Butterfree, engulfing the Bug-type in a spinning vortex of flames. Butterfree remained unable to move until the flames died down and it had already been knocked unconscious from the blow.

"Wow." Cassandra said in stunned amazement. "Um, go Beedrill."

She sent out her next Pokémon. The Poison Bee Pokémon charged at Vulpix with a Poison Jab, but Vulpix side-hopped out of the way causing Beedrill to crash stinger-first into the ground. Vulpix's six tails stood on end and glowed with an ominous purple aura as she used Will-O-Wisp on Beedrill. Beedrill managed to dislodge its stinger from the ground and tried to fly up into the air, but its wings suddenly caught fire and it was sent hurtling back down to the ground again. Vulpix launched another Fire Spin and when the flames dissipated, Beedrill couldn't get back up again.

"Return, Beedrill." Cassandra said unenthusiastically. "Let's go, Parasect."

The Mushroom Pokémon barely had time to land on the ground before Vulpix hit it with a Fire Spin and, like the two Bug-types before it, was knocked out by the blow.

"I'm not really sure what to say to that." Cassandra said as she recalled her Parasect. "You just flat-out wiped the floor with me. I guess you can just take this Mushroom Badge now."

Cassandra walked over to Daisy and handed her the badge. Daisy took it happily and turned back to Giselle.

"So, what did you think?"

Daisy thought she saw Giselle's eye twitch as she stared at Daisy with an expression that Daisy couldn't even begin to identify.

"So you beat a few Bug-types with an overpowered Fire-type." Giselle said as her expression returned to normal. "Big deal. My fight will be similarly short, so there's no point in you even sticking around to watch. Why don't you just head over to the Pokémon Center and heal up."

"But my Pokémon don't need healing." Daisy pointed out.

"Just go." Giselle growled angrily.

"Fine, fine."

Daisy made her way to the door. As she made her way out she heard Cassandra ask Giselle how many badges she had and thought she heard Giselle reply with a week 'Only one.'

* * *

Red and Yellow made their way over to the Celadon City Gym. As they approached the building, they noticed that there was an old man standing by the doorway, looking in through a window.

"This Gym is great." The old man said to himself as they approached. "It's full of girls."

Red made sure that Yellow was standing on the opposite side of him than the old man and placed his arm around her securely, eyeing the old man with a look of disgust. Yellow felt surprised to feel his arm around her and felt her cheeks start to get warm, but she didn't know why. As they walked up to the door, it opened automatically and they were met by the pungent aromas of a multitude of various flowers and plants. They made their way into the Gym until a young woman walked up to them.

"Are you here to challenge the Gym?" She asked.

"Yes." Red replied.

"Well I am afraid the Lady Erika left for some urgent business early this morning and has not yet returned."

"Do you have any idea when she'll get back?"

"I'm afraid not. You'll just have to check back later."

Mildly disgruntled, Red turned around and left, Yellow still at his side. They walked along the long narrow pathway edged by rows of trees that lead to the Gym without another word until they walked out into the city.

"Well now what?" Red asked.

"You can let go of me now." Yellow suggested.

"Oh, right." Red quickly put his arm back to his side. "There was something odd about that old guy so I wanted to make sure that you were alright. Anyway, do you have any ideas of what we should do while we wait? It looks like there's some kind of big mall over on the other side of town." He pointed to a tall blue building with yellow and red banners hanging down from it that were advertising some kind of big sale.

"I wanna check out that place." Yellow gestured towards a bright purple building just a few blocks away covered in bright flashing lights.

"The Rocket Corner?" Red asked, reading the large neon sign on the roof.

"Yeah! It looks exciting!"

"I think that's a casino." Red said in amazement. "But I thought gambling was illegal. And even if it is then there's no way they'd actually let us in. We're minors, after all."

"We're what?"

"Minors. It means we're not adults yet and we aren't allowed to do… things that kids shouldn't do."

"But I thought you were an adult."

Red pondered that for a moment and then it occurred to him that he was, actually, legally an adult now that he had a Trainer's License. It was an idea that would take him a long time to get used to.

"Even so, "Red said. "We still shouldn't go there. There's a nice looking restaurant over in the other direction. Let's go there and have breakfast. We haven't eaten yet today and I don't think we've really had a proper meal since the S.S. Anne."

Yellow was disappointed, but suddenly realized just how hungry she was. "Yes. Food. Let's do that."

"Can I join?"

Red and Yellow both jumped, neither of them having noticed Sable walk up to them.

"How long have you been standing there?" Red asked in alarm.

"Not long. I just walked around the city for a while and then saw you two over here."

"Come on." Yellow said impatiently. "Let's go eat already."


	79. Chapter 79

Gary stared at his doppelganger standing in the middle of the stage below him.

"What? Who? What's going on?" He stuttered, utterly confused.

The second Gary smiled back up at him and the spotlight went out again. When the light came back on, the Gary imposter had been replaced with a woman that Gary had never seen before with bushy teal hair tied in twin-tails and wearing an orange tee-shirt with a yellow star on it and jeans.

"My name is Duplica." The woman spoke into the microphone. "Though most people call me 'The Copycat'. I'm the Gym Leader here."

"This isn't a Gym?" Gary pointed out, still confused.

"Well, not exactly, anyway. The actual Gym is still under construction but I've already been appointed as its Gym Leader, so I've been using my family's old theater house to fill in for it."

"But, what was Kat doing down there with you? And that person that looked like me?"

The light went off and back on showing that Duplica had been replaced with what appeared to be Gary himself.

"Why do you think they call me The Copycat? Impersonating other people is my specialty." The fake Gary pulled off his wig to show that 'he' was really Duplica in disguise. "I thought you would have figured that out on your own. Maybe you're not as smart as you think you are?"

"Shut up!" Gary yelled down to her.

"Hm. Must have struck a nerve there." Duplica muttered to herself. "Anyway, are we going to battle or not? I just got back from an important meeting and I'd like to get this over with so I can relax for a while."

"You're on!"

"Good." Duplica said in Gary's voice and then switched back to her own. "You should already have six badges if I'm not mistaken, which means that this will be a six-on-six battle. So give it all you've got and take on Kanto's Normal-type specialist."

"This will be a piece of cake."

* * *

Red, Yellow and Sable walked into the restaurant, the "Celadon Grill" according to its sign, and were immediately greeted by the intoxicating smells of bacon and eggs. Evidently, they had just walked in during the breakfast rush as the old-timey diner was filled with people. There happened to be three empty red-leather stools available next to a man who seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of his meal at the far end of the marble counter spanning one side of the diner, so the trio made their way across the black and white checkered floor trying to avoid bumping into anybody on the way. They sat down on the empty stools and a waitress walked up to them from the other side of the counter.

"What can I get for ya?" She asked. When she didn't get an answer she just said. "Should I just make that three of the house special?"

"Sure." Red said hesitantly.

"Okay, that 'ill be comin' right up."

The waitress left, leaving Red, Yellow and Sable sitting alone in the crowded restaurant.

"It sure is noisy in here." Yellow commented. She had to speak up to make sure that the others could hear her.

"Yes, it is." Red agreed.

"I kind of like it." Said Sable. "It's different than what I'm used to."

"Yeah, Lavender did seem like a pretty quiet place." Red said.

"Apart from the ghosts." Yellow added.

"Yes. Lavender Town."

The sleeping man next to them suddenly stirred and sat up, staring blankly at the half-empty plate in front of him.

"Ugh." The man grunted. "That's it for me. I've lost too much already. I'm quitting now before I've got nothing left but the skin of my back."

The man grabbed some sort of small red box out of his pocket and set in on the counter.

"What's that?" Yellow asked inquisitively.

"It's yours now." The man replied. "Take it, I don't want it anymore."

And with that, the man stood up and waddled away, clearly still not fully awake yet.

"Hey!" The waitress yelled out to him as she walked up to Red, Yellow and Sable with three plates full of food. "You haven't paid your bill yet!" She set the plates down in front of them and ran after the man. "Come back here!"

"Well, that was odd." Red commented.

Yellow grabbed the box that the man had given to her and undid the golden latch on it to open it up. Inside were rows of strange golden coins, different than the ones normally used as currency. "What are these?" She said, holding one up and admiring the stylized 'R' on one side.

"Put that away." Red told her. "I think those are casino tokens. Probably from that one you were looking at earlier."

"Does that mean that we can go there now?"

"No."

Red picked up his fork as Yellow put the coin back in the case. He was about to take his first bite when Sable happened to catch a glimmer of light out of the corner of her eye.

"What's that?" She asked Red.

"What's what?"

"That thing on your wrist."

"This thing?" Red held up his right hand to show off the bracelet with the marble-like stone embedded in it that Mr. Fuji had given him. "We're not exactly sure yet. Why?"

"No reason." Sable turned to her food. "I was just curious."

* * *

"Raticate, use Super Fang!" Gary called out to his Pokémon.

The large Mouse Pokémon charged forward and bit its opponent, another Raticate, on the neck. Duplica's Raticate let out a screech of pain and twisted around to get Gary's Raticate with its own Super Fang. The two Pokémon released each other and backed off slightly, circling around one another. Duplica's Raticate prepared to use Tackle, but Gary's interrupted the move with a Quick Attack, knocking Duplica's Raticate onto its back. Gary's Raticate then bit Duplica's with Hyper Fang, and Duplica's Raticate fell unconscious.

"Well so much for the mirror match, I guess it's time for a game of cat and mouse!" Duplica said as she called back her Raticate and sent out her second Pokémon, Persian.

The red gemstone on the Classy Cat Pokémon's forehead glowed brightly and four purple rock-like energy constructs emerged from it, floating gently in the air above it before being launched straight at Raticate and knocking the Mouse Pokémon out cold. Gary scowled as he recalled his Pokémon and sent out his Nidorina. The blue Poison Pin Pokémon leapt out of her Pokéball and hopped off of the wooden stage floor they were battling on, turning around in mid-air and smacking Persian with a Double Kick. Persian was knocked back by the attack but quickly found its balance and retaliated by lunging towards Nidorina with its claws outstretched and using Slash. The attack struck Nidorina across the face, but she didn't let it get to her and countered by pelting Persian's underbelly with a round of Fury Swipes before it had landed back on the ground. Furious, Persian whipped around and smacked Nidorina with its tail and then hitting her with another Slash. Nidorina jumped back and then lunged at Persian to hit it with another Double Kick, knocking out the feline Pokémon.

"You're certainly doing better than I expected you to." Duplica commented as she sent out her third Pokémon. "But then again, this battle isn't even half over yet. You've still got a ways to go."

A Chansey emerged from the Pokéball and landed on the floor with a loud thump. The round pink Pokémon launched an Egg Bomb at Nidorina, who was barely able to jump out of the way of the attack. Nidorina then ran up to Chansey and used Bite on Chansey. The Egg Pokémon merely shrugged off the attack and hit Nidorina across the face with a Double Slap. Nidorina backed away from her opponent and launched a small purple dart from her mouth with Poison Sting. The Poison Sting hit Chansey just above its left arm and infected Chansey with poison. Chansey then used Heal Pulse to recover all of the health it had lost so far.

"Don't think that beating my Chansey will be so easy." Duplica taunted Gary. "She's an extremely resilient Pokémon and is capable of healing anything that you manage to do to her. The only way you'd be able to beat Chansey would be to knock her out in one hit."

"Then I'll just have to find a way to do that." Gary replied.


	80. Chapter 80

"Use Toxic!"

Nidorina spat out a glob of poison at Chansey on Gary's order. The poison hit Chansey, who used Defense Curl to strengthen its defense. Nidorina then launched a spray of Toxic Spikes around the battlefield as Chansey got ready to hit Nidorina with a Take Down. Nidorina was able to jump out of the way of the attack and then sent out another wave of Toxic Spikes. Chansey used Heal Pulse to recover her health again as Nidorina growled at Chansey, causing Chansey to lower its attack.

The battle continued with Nidorina dodging as many of Chansey's moves as she could while using Growl to lower its attack more and more. Chansey would heal its injuries with Heal Pulse whenever its health started to get low, but it seemed to get more and more fatigued as time went on. Eventually, after using Heal Pulse for one last time, Chansey simply lost consciousness and fell over.

"What?" Duplica wondered aloud. "What just happened?"

"I used Toxic on your Chansey earlier and unlike other moves which inflict poison on the enemy, Toxic's effects double every time it takes effect. So it was only a matter of time before it reached the point where it would completely take away all of your Chansey's health at once, rendering your little healing trick completely ineffective."

"I can't believe that I overlooked that." Duplica said as she called back her Chansey into its Pokéball. "Good use of strategy, but I'm afraid that it won't do you any good now that I know to avoid that attack. Go, Kangaskhan!"

The large brown Pokémon came out of its Pokéball with a roar as it leaped into battle and then let out another roar as it landed on the double-layer of Toxic Spikes that Nidorina had scattered around earlier.

"And of course there's more than one way to badly poison a Pokémon. For example, the move Toxic Spikes normally poisons any of the opponent's Pokémon that enter the battle after the move is used. If you use it twice, however, it badly poisons them instead. Every time you send out one of their Pokémon, it's only a matter of time before they faint. I've effectively already won."

"There's one little hole in that plan of yours." Duplica said.

"And what's that?"

"All I have to do is beat all of your Pokémon before that happens. Kangaskhan! Use Mega Punch!"

The Parent Pokémon charged up to Nidorina and decked her across the face, sending her flying back into a wall and knocking her unconscious in the process.

"I guess I didn't really think of that. Of course, it's not like you actually have a chance of beating me or anything, but I'll let you pretend that you might actually win. Come on out, Nidorino! Use Horn Attack, followed by a Double Kick!"

The purple Poison Pin Pokémon practically flew out of its Pokéball and crashed straight into Kangaskhan head-first, knocking the larger Pokémon onto its back and then hitting it in the chest with his hind legs. Kangaskhan tried to retaliate with a Dizzy Punch, but Nidorino rammed Kangaskhan's lower jaw with another Horn Attack. Kangaskhan let out a roar and passed out.

"Maybe you might win this one after all." Duplica admitted as she recalled her Kangaskhan. "Then again, maybe not. Go, Tauros!"

The Wild Bull Pokémon emerged from its Pokéballs and landed on the Toxic Spikes. It winced slightly as it became badly poisoned, but was able to get itself riled up by whipping itself with its three tails. Tauros then lowered its head. The three silver orbs on its head began to glow purple as it charged forward to hit Nidorino with a Zen Headbutt.

Nidorino braced itself for the impact and took the attack head-on. The force of the blow knocked Nidorino back several inches along the floor. As Tauros backed away, Nidorino charged forward with a Horn Attack and struck Tauros in the leg. The attack forced Tauros to collapse onto the ground, making an opening for Nidorino to turn around and strike Tauros with a Double Kick to the face, knocking the Wild Bull Pokémon onto its side. Tauros quickly got back onto its legs and stood up, only to collapse again as the poison drained away the last of its health.

"It looks like it's time for my last Pokémon." Duplica said. "Come on out, Ditto!"

Duplica threw her last Pokéball and a small pink blob popped out of it. The blob twisted and contorted until it took the form of Gary's Nidorino before it landed on the floor below.

"What?" Gary said, unsure as to what just happened.

"Ditto's a special Pokémon." Duplica explained. "It has the unique ability to take the form of any other Pokémon it sees. Normally it would take a moment for the Ditto to transform, leaving it vulnerable to attack when it first comes out. But my Ditto here has the rare Imposter ability that allows it to transform into something the moment it sees it. In this case, my Ditto was able to take the form of your Poison-type Nidorino, leaving it completely immune to the Toxic Spikes scattered around the field, as well as any other possible attempts to poison it. What do you have to say to that?"

"I say that an imposter can never be as good as the real deal." Said Gary. "Nidorino, use Horn Attack!"

"Ditto, use Horn Attack!" Duplica yelled, imitating Gary's voice.

The two Pokémon charged forward and rammed into each other. Nidorino and Ditto staggered a bit from the collision, and after a moment, Nidorino collapsed.

"What? How?" Gary yelled.

"You forgot that your Nidorino was already pretty hurt from my Tauros' Zen Headbutt, while my Ditto was still perfectly fine. Although I did expect that Nidorino to at least take another hit or two before going down."

Gary gritted his teeth as he recalled Nidorino and sent out his next Pokémon. "Rapid Spin!"

Wartortle came out of the Pokéball and retracted into its shell, spinning around quickly as it hit the ground, sending the Toxic Spikes flying at Nidorino.

"I might not be able to poison you, but I'm sure you'll still take some damage from the spikes. And there's no way you'll be able to hit him when he's moving around so quickly."

Wartortle continued spinning as he made his way around, sending as many spikes as he could at Ditto. Ditto winced as hundreds of the tiny darts hit it, but was able to open its mouth long enough to fire a Poison Sting and managed to hit Wartortle, knocking him off of his intended projector and flipping him onto his back. Wartortle stuck his head out of his shell and used Water Pulse. Three rings of watery energy shot out of Wartortle's mouth and hit Ditto. At first, it didn't seem to do much, but when Ditto then tried to use Horn Attack, it charged off in the wrong direction and tripped, falling over onto its side.

"Wartortle, use Aqua Tail!"

Wartortle flipped over onto his feet and ran up to Ditto, his tail glowing blue. As he was about to reach Ditto, who was trying to stand back up, Wartortle turned around and slapped Ditto with his glowing tail. The attack knocked Ditto back and off the side of the stage. After a moment, Ditto was able to climb back up onto the stage and looked like it was going to attack again but instead melted back into its original gooey form.

"It looks like you won." Duplica said. "That was a good battle. Here's a Core Badge in honor of your victory."

Duplica held out a badge that resembled a green circle surrounded by four green circles. Gary walked up to her and she dropped the badge into his outstretched hand.

"This means you should only have one more to go before you can enter the Pokémon League, right?"

"Yes." Gary said as he put the badge away in his badge case. "But then again, why settle for only eight? I should have plenty of time to get more than that before the League starts up this year."

"Really?" Duplica was surprised by his remark. "Most trainers don't try to get more than the eight that they need. At least not before challenging the League, anyway. Once you've got eight badges, Gym Leaders no longer have to hold back at all. We don't have to limit ourselves to the normal restrictions we're bound by when forming our teams and strategies."

"That just sounds like more reasons to do it, then." Gary said.


	81. Chapter 81

Red stepped out of the Celadon Grill and stretched. "Do you think the Gym Leader will be back by now?" He asked Yellow.

"How should I know?" Yellow asked back.

"I was just wondering aloud."

"I'm sure she's back at her Gym waiting to be challenged right now." Sable said.

"How do you know that the Gym Leader is a woman?" Red asked her as the trio headed out back towards the Celadon Gym.

Sable paused for a moment, looking contemplative before answering, "I was just making a guess."

They walked along the tree-lined path until they reached their destination. The old man was no longer standing outside the Gym and judging from the marks on the ground where he had been, Red guessed that he had been escorted away by force. Red walked through the front door and into the Gym, which remained unchanged from when he and Yellow had entered just earlier that morning.

"Welcome back." Said the same woman that had greeted them earlier. "Lady Erika has returned from her meeting and is awaiting your challenge."

"It looks like you were right." Red said, turning to Sable.

"Yes, well, we're all right sometimes."

Red turned and headed further into the Gym, determined to win another badge. One more and he would be halfway to reaching the Pokémon League. It felt like nothing would get in his way. He didn't even notice that Yellow was no longer with him.

* * *

Yellow stood outside the Rocket Game Corner, clutching the golden Coin Case that she had managed to take back from Red without him noticing. She had seen him battle three Gym Leaders already and would likely see him challenge more in the future, so she didn't really care about missing this one. There was just something about this bright and shiny building that drew her in, compelling her to enter within those mysterious walls. It was like something inside was calling to her, asking her to find it. And the temptation of that forbidden allure had grown too strong for her to resist any longer. She had to find out what was in there.

She walked up to a group of people entering into the Game Corner and went inside with them, avoiding any suspicion from the guards standing by the doorway. Inside, she was greeted by a blindingly brilliant golden floor surrounded by pastel blue walls with pink trim. Neon signs hung from the ceiling pointing out the various games and attractions littering the den of avarice that Yellow had found herself in. She made her way across the building, looking in awe at everything around her until she found herself walking up to a strange poster hanging alone on the far wall from the entrance. She walked up to the poster but found her way blocked by a large man dressed in black who walked up to her to stop her from reaching the poster.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" The man asked in a mocking tone. "This isn't a place for kids. Scram!"

"No." Yellow said as dignified as she could sound, stomping her foot for added effect.

"I said get lost." The man reiterated. "There's nothing to see here. Nothing strange about this poster at all. You shouldn't even be in this place to begin with."

"Make me." Yellow stood up tall and made a determined face.

"Uugh, fine." The man reached down to grab Yellow, but she ducked under one of his arms and mad a dash for the wall. The man's comment about there being nothing strange about the poster just made her want to investigate it more and so she lifted up one of the bottom corners and found that there was a switch behind it. She pressed the switch despite having no idea what it did.

The man in black chased after Yellow and almost caught up to her when the floor at the end of a short hallway nearby moved, revealing a hidden staircase. Yellow dashed towards it to get away from the man and made her way down. As she ran down the steps, she realized that whatever was calling out to her wasn't in the Rocket Game Corner after all. It was beneath the Game Corner.

* * *

Gary walked out of the House of Amity, wincing and lifting a hand up to block the bright sunlight from getting into his eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness of the old run-down theater. He looked around to see where Mal had parked and found his Dad's car sitting just a few yards away. The four remaining members of his 'cheerleaders' were having a lively conversation, though he couldn't tell what they were talking about and they quieted down as he approached the car.

"How did it go?" Kat asked him enthusiastically.

"You know, you could have told me this place was a Gym." Gary said, standing just outside the car. "It would have saved me a lot of confusion. Although at least I didn't have to suffer through your cheer routine again."

"You do realize that we haven't done that since before the S.S. Anne, right?" Asked Ciel.

"Not since the others left." Sue added sorrowfully. "It just wouldn't be the same without them."

"Yeah, whatever. I never liked that cheer and I don't really care that those other two left. I mean it's not like anything really happened to them or anything. They just wimped out and decided to go home."

"That's kind of a rude thing to say." Mal said.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, does anyone have a Revive I can use? I have something that I want to do but I don't want to have to wait until we get to the next Pokémon Center."

"Sure." Said Kat, reaching into her purse and pulling out a small yellow crystal.

She tossed the Revive at Gary, who tried to catch it but wasn't quite able to get a good grip. The Revive fell to the ground, forcing him to have to bend down and pick it up. As he stood back up again, he glared at the girls like he wanted them to forget what they just saw. He then held out one of his Pokéballs and tapped the Revive lightly against the button. The Revive dissolved into light and was absorbed into the Pokéball.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, come out Nidorina." He tossed the Pokéball and his Poison Pin Pokémon popped out. Gary knelt down and scratched Nidorina under her chin before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small gray rock. He held the Moon Stone up to Nidorina's forehead and she began to glow brightly. Gary had to take a step back as the evolving Pokémon grew larger and larger. Eventually, the glow faded and standing before Gary was a newly evolved Nidoqueen.

"Good girl." Gary said, placing his hand gently against the top of Nidoqueen's head, making sure not to accidentally touch the horn sprouting from her forehead. "You've earned this."

"Are you going to evolve Nidorino too?" Kat asked him.

"No, I think I'll hold off on that. I might want to use my other Moon Stone for something else later. Anyway, we should get going."

* * *

Daisy stood outside of the Mossgreen Village Pokémon Center, leaning against the side of the building and waiting for Giselle to finish her battle. She caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see what it was. A small bird Pokémon carrying some sort of green twig was marching along a row of bushes along the edge of town. Daisy looked away again and then did a double take. That Pokémon was a Farfetch'd, one of the rarest Pokémon that Daisy was aware of. There was no way she was going to let this opportunity pass her by.

Daisy crouched down low and slowly made her way towards the Farfetch'd, who was facing the other way from her and seemed to be oblivious to the girl slowly approaching it. Daisy pulled out her Bulbasaur's Pokéball and held it out. Bulbasaur came out of the Pokéball and reached out to grab Farfetch'd with its vines before Farfetch'd had a chance to react. The Wild Duck Pokémon started flapping its wings wildly and quacking angrily as it tried to break free of Bulbasaur's grasp, but to no avail. Daisy pulled an empty Pokéball out of her bag and threw it at Farfetch'd. The Pokéball hit its target and engulfed the struggling Pokémon before falling to the ground. The Pokéball shook once, then twice and finally a third time before the red light on its button went out and it stopped moving.

"Yes!" Daisy said triumphantly as she picked up the Pokéball and held it triumphantly over her head. She felt that the day couldn't get any better, but was quickly proven wrong as Bulbasaur started to glow. In a moment, it had evolved into an Ivysaur.

"Whatever." A bitter voice came from behind Daisy. She turned around to see Giselle standing there. "Come on, let's just get going."


	82. Chapter 82

Erika stood at the far end of her Gym, mentally preparing herself for battle. When she had arrived back from the meeting held in Indigo Plateau that morning, the girl she had left to watch over the Gym in her absence had told her that there was a boy who had stopped by earlier wanting to challenge her. She knew that now that she was here, it was only a matter of time before that boy would return to face her. As she thought, she had only been there a few minutes before the boy entered the Gym.

Erika had seen the boy before, or at least his picture. Samuel Redwood, of Pallet Town. She had seen his records among those of all of the trainers currently attempting to get into the Pokémon League. She went through those records regularly, keeping watch over the many trainers as they continued their journeys. If there was one thing that Erika took pride in, it was her infallible memory. Like a fly trap that snaps shut around its prey, nothing ever escaped her recollection.

As Red approached her, Erika noted that he looked different than his profile picture showed him. In his picture "Red", as he was known, had a very humble look about him. His brown hair was kept neatly combed and his red and white jacket was kept zipped up to the collar. He had a plain looking smile that showed his inexperience, even if he didn't intend it as such. She had seen that same smile on countless trainers like him before. But the Red that now stood before her was much more experienced than when that picture was taken, much more confident. He wore the same vest as in the picture, but it was now worn open, revealing the black t-shirt underneath, with three badges pinned to the shirt. A proud symbol of what he had accomplished so far. His hair was no longer as neat as it had been, now being rather messy under the red and white cap he wore slightly askew. There was a proverbial fire burning in his eyes, that made them appear to be red, much like his nickname. There was also a woman with him, with long, bushy purple hair and wearing a black dress. There was something off about the woman, but Erika chose to ignore her for now and focus on Red.

"Welcome, trainer." Erika said. "I take it that you are here to challenge me to a Gym battle?"

"That's right. My name's Red and I already have three badges" Red said proudly.

"Very well then." Erika gave a slight curtsy. "I am Lady Erika, the Gym Leader of Celadon City and master of the Grass-type. In accordance with the official Pokémon League rules, we shall each use no more than three Pokémon. If you manage to defeat all three of my Pokémon then you win the battle and earn the Rainbow Badge, but if I defeat three of your Pokémon before that then you lose the battle."

"I already know how this goes." Red said. "I've already beaten three other Gym Leaders, after all."

"I know, and I'm sure you do know, but a brief refresher on the rules never hurt anyone. Now, if you are ready then we shall begin on the count of three. One, two three."

Erika tossed a Pokéball to send out her first Pokémon, Tangela, while Red called out his Charmeleon. She already knew that he would win this fight without much trouble, but it was her duty as a Gym Leader to make sure that she gave the fight her all in order to make sure that he would truly earn the badge he would receive upon victory.

* * *

As Yellow reached the bottom of the staircase, she could hear the entrance to the secret passage close behind her. She could tell that the man who was chasing her wasn't able to get to the stairs in time and was heading back to press the button to open it up again. Or possibly send out some kind of alert that she was in there. Yellow wasn't really sure how she knew this, but she seemed to know a lot of things that she was sure that she shouldn't.

As Yellow made her way along a dark hallway with gray walls and a brown tiled floor. There didn't really seem to be anything of note about this place beside how plain it was in comparison to the bright and elaborate the building above was. There were many open doorways along either side of the hallway leading into what appeared to be offices filled with men and women in black uniforms that were too busy to notice her go by. She happened to look into one office room as a man looked up at the ceiling while stretching his arms out to the side and letting out a big yawn. This allowed Yellow to see the front of his uniform clearly. In particular, the familiar red 'R' that she had seen several times before. These people were from Team Rocket.

That revelation didn't really come as much to a surprise to Yellow though, as she had already had her suspicions about the name of the Rocket Game Corner and thought there might have been some kind of connection, but she didn't care as much about that right now as she felt that she probably should. The hallway branched out into other hallways and formed almost a maze-like pattern, but she somehow knew exactly where she was going. There was a presence coming from deep within the apparent secret base that was guiding her way. She still had no idea what it was, but she knew that she had to go to it. She eventually came to a stop outside a closed door. She had no idea what lay beyond the door, but she felt the presence strongly behind it. Whatever was calling to her was just on the other side. She reached out for the door handle and was just about to grab it when she felt something large and hard slam into the back of her head and everything went dark.

* * *

Charmander and Squirtle walked through the woods until they reached the spot where Zoroark and Bulbasaur were resting.

"Time to go already?" Bulbasaur opened one eye as he heard them approach.

"There is no point in dallying here any longer." Squirtle replied. "We have reached the end of our training for now and it is time to head to the next Gym. If we hurry, we should be able to get to Cerulean City before dusk."

"But isn't Saffron closer?" Bulbasaur asked.

"I do not think that going there would necessarily be such a good idea." Said Squirtle. "I have heard rumors that the Gym Leader there is some kind of powerful psychic. I think that it would be best for us to avoid that place, in case the Gym Leader could somehow find out the truth about us using those powers."

"I'm a Dark-type, which means that I'm immune to Psychic powers." Zoroark pointed out. "No one should be able to see through my Illusion and my presence should render any attempt at reading our minds to be futile."

"Still, I'd rather not risk the chance of getting caught. There's no telling what would happen if we were discovered. I think it would be for the best if we avoid Saffron City and head north to Cerulean City instead."

"I suppose that makes sense." Bulbasaur conceded. "We don't want to take any unnecessary risks."

"Now come on, let's get going so that we can try and get there before dark."

Squirtle set off on his way, with the other three Pokémon following close behind them. They were still a long way from reaching their goal of the Pokémon League, but every step of the way was another step closer and with Squirtle's inspiring words every time things started to look down for them, victory felt like it was only just out of reach. They knew that their charade probably would not last much longer, but it felt to them as if it would last long enough. They were going to make it to the Pokémon League and they were going to win. Nothing could get in their way.


	83. Chapter 83

Ash slowly opened his eyes before sitting up in bed and stretching his arms up. It was nice to have finally gotten some sleep after everything that had happened and he felt refreshed. He got out of bed and looked around the room.

"Good morning." He yawned as he noticed Carmine reading a book while laying on a bed on the other end of the room.

"Mornin'." Carmine replied, not looking up from his book. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good." Ash walked over to a coat rack near the front doorway and grabbed his jacket off of it. "How about you?"

"That was the best I've slept in ages. Too bad it never lasts." Carmine closed his book after finishing the page he was on and got up. "I guess it's time to get to training now. The early Pidgey gets the Caterpie, as they say." He then checked the time on his Pokégear. "Although I guess it's not particularly early right now. Go wake up your Pikachu and we'll get started outside."

Ash turned to look at Pika, who was still curled up at the end of Ash's bed. It struck Ash as odd that Pika would still be asleep. Normally, the Electric rodent got up at the same time he did.

"I think something's wrong." Ash said worriedly to Carmine.

"He's probably just a little depressed that you got rid of the girl Pikachu." Carmine jokingly suggested.

"I didn't get rid of her." Ash argued.

"I know. I'm just saying that the two seemed close. It's only natural that he'd experience some behavioral changes. Volty's probably acting similarly with Misty right now."

Carmine's words did nothing to calm down Ash's worry. He knelt down in front of the bed and placed his right hand against Pika's forehead.

"He has a fever!" Ash shouted worriedly.

"What?" Carmine asked blankly and walked up next to Ash. He rested his own hand gently against Pika. "Aeroblast!" He swore. "He's burning up. We've got to take him to the Pokémon Center right now!"

* * *

Red's Charmeleon blasted Erika's Tangela with an Ember. Tangela was burned by the attack and retaliated with a Vine Whip. Charmeleon dodged out of the way of the vines and ran up to Tangela, using Fire Fang it bit into the wriggly mass of vines that coated its body. Tangela managed to wrestle free from Charmeleon's jaws and launched a spray of Poison Powder. Charmeleon was infected by the powder but was able to get Tangela with another Fire Fang, knocking it out.

Erika sighed and recalled Tangela into its Pokéball before sending out her second Pokémon, Weepinbell. The Flycatcher Pokémon threw a Razor Leaf at Charmeleon. The leaf grazed Charmeleon's cheek and the fiery lizard spit an Ember back at Weepinbell. Weepinbell then used Growth to try and increase the power of its next move, but that gave Charmeleon an opening to close in and use Fire Fang, biting into the brown stem at the top of Weepinbell's head. Weepinbell tried to use spit Acid at Charmeleon but was unable to get a good shot at it. Charmeleon use Fire Fang a couple more times before Weepinbell fainted. After Weepinbell was recalled, Erika sent out her final Pokémon, Gloom, but it fared no better against Red's Charmeleon as the others had.

"That was short." Erika said as she walked up to Red with an outstretched hand. "And the result was rather predictable, but here you go. You've earned this Rainbow Badge. Take it as a sign of your victory."

Red took the badge from Erika and pinned it with the three badges he already had. "Thank you."

"Now, if you have no other business here, I would like to get some rest." Erika said as she walked over to a flower-shaped pillow lying on the ground nearby. "I have had a busy day and I feel that a nap is in order."

"Okay then, I guess we'll be going." Red waved goodbye as he turned to leave. He and Sable walked out the door when he finally noticed the absence of their other traveling companion. "Wait, where's Yellow?"

"She left before we entered the Gym." Sable said. "I don't know where she went."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Red asked louder than he meant to.

"You didn't ask." Was Sable's reply. "And I thought you would have noticed."

Red rested his face in his hand. "Never mind. We need to find her. And I have a strong suspicion that I know exactly where she wandered off to this time."

* * *

"I don't think I'll ever get the hang of teleporting." James moaned as he, Jessie and Meowth walked along a narrow stretch of land between a cliff-face and a small river. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Shut yer yap." Meowth ordered him. "We'res almost dere."

"How do you know that? We don't even know for sure where 'there' is."

"We knows that it's suppose'd ta be a cave somewhere along dis here river, so as long as we's follow alongside's it, we's should get dere anytime nows."

"Would you two just shut up?" Jessie yelled at the other two in frustration. "Can't I just get some peace and quiet for five minutes?"

"Wells someone gots out of da wrong sides of the da bed dis mornin'."

"I didn't get out of bed at all this morning! I haven't slept in over a day! None of us have and I don't know about you, but I need my beauty sleep."

"Ya's got's that right." Meowth remarked. Both he and James laughed but were quickly silenced as Jessie smacked them both on the backs of their heads.

"Ouch." James said before looking up again and seeing something up ahead. "Hey, look over there! That must be the cave!"

"Finally!"

The three dashed towards the cave entrance and peered inside the dark interior.

"Did anyones happen ta bring a flashlight?" Meowth asked aloud.

"I didn't even think about it." Jessie answered.

"Hold on, I think I have something that can help." James said as he reached down for an Ultra Ball clipped onto his belt containing one of the Pokémon that he had been given back during their special training with Archer. "Come on, Magneton!"

A yellow light shot out from the Ultra Ball a Pokémon resembling three steel orbs clung together and surrounded by magnets and screws materialized in front of them.

"Can you light the cave for us?" James asked his Pokémon.

Magneton stared at James with its three blank eyes and tilted forwards as if nodding and turned around. Its eyes lit up like spotlights, illuminating the dark cave.

"Well now dat dat's solved, I guess we should head in nows." Meowth said as he climbed over a rock and headed into the cave.

"What are we even supposed to be looking for in here?" Jessie wondered as she and James followed after the Pokémon.

"I dunno, but da boss seems ta want it bad if he sent us outs ta gets it."

"I just hope we find it fast so that we can head out of here." Said James. "Something about this place seems off."

"I know what you mean." Jessie agreed. "I'm feeling a cold chill that I don't think is just the wind and Arceus knows how much this humidity is going to mess up my hair."

"Shushs." Meowth whispered back to the two humans. "I thinks I hears sumthin'."

Jessie and James stopped talking and listened for a moment. Sure enough, there was a sound coming from deep in the cave. There was a distinct sound of running water, like there was some sort of underground river running through the cave, but there was something else as well, which was hard to make out at first but sounded like deep, raspy breaths.

The trio tried to hold back their fear and followed Magnaton deeper into the cave in silence. The noise got louder and louder as they made their way. They eventually reached the underground river and had to make their way around it to progress even deeper into the cave. At last, they finally made their way to the end of the cave and what they found there shocked them.

"Oh, Arceus." Jessie muttered in horror. "Is that… a person?"

A dark-haired man that appeared to be somewhere in his thirties stood before them, encased in some kind of crystal that looked either orange or purple depending on how the light hit it. James hesitantly walked over to the man and touched the crystal. It felt as cold as ice and harder than steel.

"What's going on here?" Jessie asked, not expecting an answer.

The breathing noise had become almost deafening and was now accompanied by what sounded like a heartbeat. Meowth looked around to see where it was coming from and was startled as he saw a figure in a brown cloak crawl out from behind a large stalagmite.

" **Get out."**


	84. Chapter 84

"I don't know why she wanted to go here, but this is probably where she wandered off to." Red sighed as he and Sable stood outside the Rocket Game Corner. "Come on, let's go look for her inside."

The two walked into the Game Corner. Red thought for a moment that the guards standing outside were going to stop them, but it was as if they didn't even see Red and Sable walk by.

"Not very good guards." Red muttered once he was sure they were out of hearing range.

"I'm sure they had other things on their minds." Said Sable.

"Other than doing their job?"

"Never mind."

Red surveyed the busy casino, looking for any sign of Yellow. It was hard to make out anything among the crowds and bright lights everywhere. Sable walked away towards the other end of the Game Corner and Red saw no other option than to follow her. They made their way across the swarms of crazed individuals trying desperately to make back their losses until they made it to the back wall.

"I don't see her anywhere." Red complained.

"Hold on." Sable walked down a short hallway that appeared at first to be a dead end. With a flick of her wrist, the floor suddenly opened up in front of her to reveal a staircase. "What do you think the odds are that she went down here?"

Red stared down at the secret passage and then at Sable. "How did you…?"

"Such a coincidence that this would open up right when we're here. Anyway, shall we go?" Sable stepped to the side and motioned for Red to go down first.

Red begrudgingly headed down the stairs, with Sable following close behind. They made their way along a hallway until three men in Team Rocket uniforms suddenly ran out in front of them.

"Remember us?" One of the men said.

"Should I?" Red asked as he instinctively reached for his Pokéballs.

"We're the guys you beat back in the Lavender Tower. And now it's time for us to get our payback." Said one of the other men. "And I wouldn't try anything if I were you. We've got you surrounded."

Red glanced back and saw three more Team Rocket grunts walking up to them from behind.

"Any ideas of how we're supposed to get out of this mess?" Red asked Sable.

"I think I'll leave this one up to you. I'm not really one for confrontations." Sable said. "That guy did just say that you've already beaten them, right?"

"I guess so. But I think I might be a little outmatched this time." Red said as even more members of Team Rocket ran up to them. "I don't think we have a choice other than to surrender and hope for the best."

* * *

Ash paced anxiously back and forth in front of the Pokémon Center's front desk while Carmine stood off to the side, leaning against a wall. They had rushed there as fast as they could and handed Pika off to the nurse that was stationed there. The nurse had taken Pika to examine him and find out what was wrong and now they were waiting for her to return, hopefully with good news.

"This wait is driving me crazy!" Ash yelled in exasperation, raising his hands up to his head and stroking his hair furiously, almost knocking off his hat.

"Calm down." Carmine told him. "Being impatient right now isn't going to get you anywhere."

"Calm down!" Ash turned to Carmine. "For Arceus' sake, how the Distortion World can you expect me to be calm at a time like this? Pika could be dying right now for all I know and there's nothing I can do about it!"

Carmine looked up at Ash quizzically. "Wow, you're developing quite the foul mouth. Your mom would throw a fit if she heard you talking like that. I'd say that you've been hanging around me too much, but that wasn't even the kind of heavy language that I use when I'm upset."

"What, would you prefer I say Aeroblast like you always do?"

"No, not really. You should really watch your language. There may not be anyone else here right now, but this is still a public place."

"Why should I even care right now?" Ash walked up beside Carmine and put his fist against the wall. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"Look, kid," Carmine said as comfortingly as he could, "your Pikachu's going to be just fine. It's probably just a cold or something. Pokémon do just get sick sometimes, you know."

"I know." Ash muttered. "But I just can't stop thinking the worst right now."

The sound of a clearing throat turned Ash's attention back to the desk. The nurse had returned.

"What is it?" Ash asked, running up to the desk. "What's wrong with him?"

"You're Pikachu has contracted a bad case of Pokérus." The nurse explained. "He should be back to full health in a few days."

Ash gave a sigh of relief as he turned back to Carmine. "That's good to hear."

"We do want to keep him here while he recovers so that we can monitor his condition and make sure that he isn't overexerted.

"Okay." Ash agreed. "Then I guess we'll be sticking around here until he's ready to go."

"Well, we were planning on spending the next few days training anyway." Carmine said as he walked up to Ash "This just means that we'll do that training here. You already use Pika more than your other Pokémon, so this will give you a chance to test out your skills without him."

* * *

Masque stood atop the roof of the Rocket Game Corner, using a small telescope to survey the surrounding city. She turned slowly as she took in the various landmarks of Celadon. There was the Gym, where the Gym Leader was no doubt taking her midday nap as she always did. Behind that was a large park with a fountain in its center, which had always been a popular gathering place for the locals. The Celadon Department Store stood proudly as the largest shopping center in the region. There were a number of apartment buildings that had sprung up in recent years. Off in the distance, she could see the Berlitz estate, owned by a wealthy family that had moved there from the Sinnoh region. Across from that was the family estate of Lady Erika.

A sudden burst of pain erupted from Masque's head and quickly subsided. She dropped the telescope as she raised both of her hands to grasp her head, letting out a loud, high-pitched scream. She fell to her hands and knees, trying unsuccessfully to keep her breathing steady. She kept her eyes shut tight until she started to feel drops of water fall onto her clenched fists. It couldn't have been rain. The sky had been completely clear just a moment ago and she would have felt it falling over her whole body. The only alternative was…

"Impossible." Masque tried to say, but no intelligible words could escape her mouth in the state she was in.

The girl who had until that point been emotionally dead rolled onto her back. There was nothing else that she could do. Nothing but cry. She couldn't explain her feelings at that moment and she didn't know how she could feel them when the Iron-Masked Marauder had made sure that feelings were something that she would never have again.

Masque turned her head to the side and saw the telescope that she had dropped. She could see her reflection in the lens and stared at the face that gazed back on her, half covered with the white mask that she took her alias from. The vague smile design of the mask contrasted with her own expression of pain and grief. She grabbed the mask with one hand and threw it away. She now stared at the reflection of her own face, completely exposed. It was a sight that she had not seen in a long time. That no one had seen in a long time.

"What's happened to you, Karla?" She said to herself before breaking down into sobs again.

The sounds of the city below made sure that no one would be able to hear her up that roof, no matter how loud she cried out. She was completely alone up there. It would likely be hours until anyone even noticed that she was missing.


	85. Chapter 85

"So what are we going to do first?" Ash asked Carmine as they headed out the front doors of the Pokémon League.

"Well, why don't you go ahead and let your Pokémon out so that they can get a breath of fresh air. I'm actually going to go back in and see if we can use one of the battle halls here to train in. Since there aren't any tournaments going on right now, they should just be open so hopefully I can convince someone to let us use them."

"Okay, I guess that sounds like a plan. Come on out, guys!"

Ash reached down to his belt and picked up his Pokéballs one by one, sending out all four of the Pokémon he currently had on hand. Fearow flew over to a nearby statue of a Machamp and perched on the stone Pokémon's head. Sandslash and Kingler landed on the ground next to each other while Ghastly floated around in the air above them. All four Pokémon seemed happy to be out.

"Alright then, I'll be back in a moment." Carmine said before walking back inside.

Ash turned to his four Pokémon and stared at them for a moment. "Wow, with Pika and Volty gone, it's like we're down to almost half our team."

"You are only missing a third of your Pokémon team." Ghastly pointed out.

"I said almost." Ash defended himself. "But still, it feels so weird, just having us here. I didn't want Misty or Brock coming with us at first, but I've gotten so used to them that it doesn't seem right not having them here anymore. It just feels like everyone's leaving."

"We will always be here so long as you need us." Ghastly reassured him and turned to the other Pokémon. "Isn't that right?"

Fearow spread his wings out wide and let out a loud screeching cry. Sandslash nodded its head and made a slight squeaking noise. Kingler snapped his jaws open and closed while spraying a foam of bubbles from its mouth.

"It's good to know that you all have my back. And I promise to take care of all of you as best as I can."

Ash heard the Pokémon League's automatic doors slide open behind him and turned to see Carmine walking up to him hurriedly. Carmine was holding his Pokégear and held it up for Ash to see. Ash's wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be looking at, however.

"In all this excitement the past couple days we completely lost track of what day it is." Carmine said.

Ash suddenly realized what Carmine was trying to show him. "June 20…"

"I know you probably want to stay here until your Pikachu recovers, but we should consider heading back to Pallet Town tomorrow. I'm sure your mom would probably want you to be home for your birthday."

* * *

"What is it now?" Giovanni grumbled as Mallory walked into his office.

"Sir, three intruders have been found and captured."

"Really?" Giovanni asked, dumbfounded. "We've hardly been here a day and people are already breaking in, right after yesterday. Please tell me it isn't Carmine or that boy."

"No, sir. The first intruder was a young girl who seems to have wandered in by accident, followed by a boy and a young woman who seem to have been merely searching for the girl."

"Well, I suppose that could be considered good news then." Giovanni gave a sigh of relief.

"However," Mallory continued. "The agents that we had stationed in Lavender Tower claim that the boy is the one who defeated them there and he also matches the description the boy that agents Attila and Hun claim to have had an encounter with at Mt. Moon. The girl was also said to be with him on both occasions, though not the young woman. In addition, our records show that both the boy and girl were aboard the S.S. Anne."

Giovanni sat back in his chair and held his hand up to his forehead as if he had a bad headache.

"It's just one thing after another now, isn't it? Yesterday had to have been the worst day in Team Rocket's history and now it's like things just keep piling up. What's next? Is Arceus going to come down from the sky and rain His Judgement upon us personally? If He is, then He should stop taking His time and just get it over with already. I don't think I can take much more of this."

"What are your orders, sir?" Mallory asked him.

"Oh, just get rid of them. I don't really care how just so long as they can never get in our way again. We don't need any more of that."

"Yes, sir." Mallory bowed slightly and walked away, leaving Giovanni alone again.

"I've had it up to here with all of this nonsense." Giovanni said to himself. "I lost my seat in the Council, I was beaten by a child, we lost our headquarters in Saffron and now our old base here in Celadon has already been breached. All within the span of twenty-four hours. I need some good news now, or else I think I might go crazy."

Just then, the control console over to the side of his desk started beeping, showing that he had an incoming call. He pressed a button on the console and a small monitor folded out from the desk.

"What is it?" Giovanni asked as the image of Meowth, Jessie and James lit up on the screen.

"We's went's to the cave near Cerulean like's ya asked us ta do." Meowth said.

"What did you find?"

"Well… we're not really sure what's we's founds, to be honest, sir."

"But you did find something?"

"You's could's say that."

"Stop beating around the bush and give me a straight answer!" Giovanni yelled furiously at the talking Pokémon. "Did you or did you not find something in that cave?"

"Yes." Meowth said nervously. "We's found… some kinda strange Pokémon that's put up a huge fight, but that we's was able ta capture."

"Good. I want you to bring it back immediately. It may be the key to our future plans."

"There's was also somethin' else back here's." Meowth continued. "It's looks like some kinda person frozen in somethin'. We's don't know's who it is or what they's actually frozen in, though's."

"Hm…" Giovanni pondered what Meowth had just told him. "Leave him for now. We might send someone to investigate that later, but we don't have the available resources right now. Return here with the Pokémon as soon as you can."

* * *

Wes and Rui sat at a table inside of a small fast food restaurant in Viridian City. Rui was feeding her Pichu some of her fries while Wes leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

"What's on your mind?" Rui asked Wes.

Wes looked down from the ceiling and looked at Rui for a moment before responding to her question with another question. "How would you describe your relationship with your parents?"

Rui was caught somewhat off guard by the sudden question. "Well, my dad's kind of strict and my mom seems like she tends to get worried over nothing most of the time, but I've always been able to get along with them reasonably well. Things started to get a bit shaky once I started getting my aura sight, though. My mom never developed the sight and my dad doesn't come from a family of aura guardians so they didn't think I'd end up having the power of aura and it came as a shock when my powers start manifesting themselves. It took a few years before they finally decided to send me to my grandparents so that Grandpa Eagun could teach me how to use my power properly. Why?"

"It's interesting how different our upbringings were. I was raised by Team Snagem because my mom couldn't care less about me and chances are my dad, whoever he is, has no idea that I even exist."

Rui bit her lower lip, not really sure how to respond to that.

"And yet here we are, an ex-criminal and a psychic. Fate or whatever decided to put us together so that we could take down Cipher and now here we are, together again and working to bring down another criminal organization."

"I'm not a psychic." Rui corrected him. "I'm an aura guardian. In training."

"Whatever." Wes said as he picked up his burger. "Same difference."


	86. Chapter 86

Yellow slowly regained consciousness, finding herself strapped to a chair in an apparently empty room.

"W-where am I?" She asked.

"Good to see that you're awake." Red's voice came from behind her. "Or at least hear you anyway. I can't really see you right now."

"What's going on?"

"Sable and I went searching for you and somehow wandered into a Team Rocket hideout. They ambushed us and took us prisoner or something. I don't know what plans they have for us."

"W-what?" Yellow found herself experiencing a sudden shortness of breath as she tried not to cry.

"Don't panic. I'm going to find a way for us to get out of this mess. Just hold on."

"I find this to be a very interesting turn of events." Sable said with an inappropriate level of enthusiasm.

"Seriously?" Red snapped at her. "I'm starting to think that there's something seriously wrong with you."

"Hey, I made it perfectly clear when I asked to come with you that I'm just here for some excitement."

Their argument was interrupted as a door swung open and Mallory walked in, followed by Ken, Al and Harry.

"It's time for you to go." She said coldly as each of the three grunts went to untie the three prisoners.

"You're letting us go?" Red asked hopefully.

"In a matter of speaking." Mallory smirked. "Blindfold them."

* * *

Gary climbed out of the back of the car and looked around. Fuchsia City was very different than anywhere he had been before. The first thing he noticed was that all of the roads were a dark red color, unlike the usual black or gray pavement. The wooden houses and other buildings around them seemed to have a very rustic feel to them that he wasn't used to. He turned around and noticed that what he at first thought was just the other side of town wasn't even a part of town at all.

"What's that over there?" He asked Kat.

"That's the Fuchsia zoo." She answered. "And that…" she pointed to a large building nestled between thick rows of trees, "is the entrance to the Safari Zone."

"The Safari Zone?"

"Trainers can go there to catch some of the rarest Pokémon in the region."

"Really?" Gary was intrigued by this. "Then I guess I know where I'm going next."

"Hold on a moment, it's not that simple." Kat put a hand on Gary's shoulder to stop him from walking off.

"What do you mean?"

"Well first off you have to pay to get in and you only have a limited time before you have to leave."

"What? What kind of Tauros crap is that?"

"They do have Tauros in there actually, but there's more to it. You can't actually take your own Pokémon or items inside. You'll be given a set of special Safari Balls and have to try and catch whatever you can on your own within the time limit."

"You know what?" Gary said. "I don't think I have time for that kind of nonsense. Let's just find the Gym."

"Are you sure?" Kat asked him. "You could miss out on a lot. Rhyhorn, Chansey, Pinsir, Kangaskhan, Tauros… Do none of those sound interesting to you?"

"I'm listening." Gary said as she got his attention again.

"I've even heard stories of people seeing Dratini in the Safari Zone before. Though I've never heard of anyone actually catching one before."

"Then I guess I'll be the first!" Gary started marching off towards the Safari Zone. "Come on, let's go!"

Mal sighed as she saw Gary leave. "That kid never rests, does he?"

"You can go ahead and find the local Pallet House or something." Kat said to the others. "We'll catch up."

Kat ran off after Gary, leaving the other three women behind.

"Why are we even still doing this again?" Mal asked her sister.

"You're the one who wanted to go." Ciel reminded her. "You said that you wanted to get out of Pallet for a while and do something new."

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"And also because Mayor Oak is paying us a ton to watch over his kid."

"I suppose he is. But I never realized how long this would take or how hard the kid can be to deal with sometimes. I mean seriously, who doesn't want a bunch of gorgeous ladies such as ourselves cheering on his battles?"

"How about you, Sue?" Ciel asked. "Why are you still here?"

"Mostly just the money." Sue said. "I couldn't compete in last year's swimming season because of a leg injury, so I'm kind of tight on cash right now."

* * *

Red, Yellow and Sable had no idea where they were being led until they felt themselves being shoved back against a wall. They had their blindfolds removed to find themselves in a storage room filled with boxes.

"This place should do nicely." Mallory mused.

"I thought you said you were letting us go?" Red shouted at her.

"I said that we were 'in a manner of speaking'." She corrected him. "Obviously we can't actually let you when you know how to get into our secret base. No, we're going to have to make sure that you can never tell anyone about us or anything that you've found here."

Mallory pulled out a Dusk Ball and pressed the button on its front. A beam of dark green energy shot out and a Hypno materialized in front of her. Yellow shrieked at the sight of it and frantically tried to back away from it, but she was already against the wall.

"W-what's wrong with that thing?" She asked in horror.

"What are you talking about?" Red asked in confusion, as it seemed to be a perfectly normal Hypno to him. He turned to Sable and noticed that she was also eyeing the Pokémon as if there were something wrong with it.

"Can't you feel it?" Yellow asked. "That thing… it's like… it's like its pure evil!"

"Hm. Interesting observation." Mallory noted. "This Hypno has had its heart sealed off using a process that our scientists developed. We call them Dark Pokémon. Are you able to see aura, girl?"

"What's that?"

"Never mind." Mallory shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway. You see, my Hypno here is going to wipe away all of your memories so that we can just dump you in an alley somewhere with no worries about you telling anyone about us. You won't remember this meeting or even anything that's happened today. You won't even have any idea who you are."

"You can't do that!" Red blurted out.

"And why not?"

"Because…" Red tried to think of anything to say.

"That's what I thought." Mallory raised her hand in preparation to give her Dark Hypno the signal to wipe their minds but was suddenly interrupted.

"You know, I think I've had enough of this little game now." Sable said unexpectedly as she stepped away from the wall. "I'm not really having any fun anymore you're really starting to make me worry that you might actually try to harm us."

"Get back over there!" Mallory ordered her.

"If you don't mind, I think it's about time that you let my friends and I go. Otherwise, we'll be forced to leave without your permission."

"This isn't a game." Red said, worried that Sable had completely lost her mind.

"No, it isn't. These people are threatening to take away everything that makes you who you are and you're not doing anything to stop them. I honestly don't understand you humans sometimes. One minute you'll do whatever it takes to survive and the next you just give up."

Mallory and the three Team Rocket Grunts were suddenly knocked away by some unseen force, all of them losing consciousness as they slammed into the walls. Sable walked over to where Red and Yellow were standing and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"We're leaving." She said disgruntledly. There was a sudden flash of light and the three were standing on a beach.

"What just happened?" Red asked in shock.

"The important thing is that you are out of harm's way for now. Now, if you don't mind, you've just learned a lot that I'm not ready for you to learn."

Sable took her hands off of their shoulders and waved them in front of Red and Yellow's faces in a single, fluid motion. Both of them fell to the ground unconscious.

"I almost feel bad about taking away their memories of the last few moments considering that it's like a smaller version of what was about to happen to them." Sable muttered to herself as she held out her arms to her sides and began to fall back. "Oh, well. Time for a dirt nap."


	87. Chapter 87

Gary looked around. There was something highly unusual about this place. The trees looked completely different than any he had ever seen before in his travels across the Kanto region and the grass seemed like it was a darker shade of green. It felt less like he was in a forest and more like some kind of jungle.

"So, this is the Safari Zone." He turned to Kat, who was standing beside him.

Kat seemed to be taking in her surroundings as well, but she seemed more at home here than he felt. She took a deep breath of air and seemed to hold it in for a while before letting it back out. Gary realized that he had been holding his own breath since walking out into this place and inhaled slightly. Even the air felt different here, sort of musty. He didn't really care for the feel of this place and didn't think that he would be getting used to it in the time they had there.

"There's nothing quite like this place." Kat said wistfully.

"You can say that again." Gary grumbled.

"So, cuz', do want to explore on your own or do you need me to watch over you?" Kat asked playfully as she ruffled her hand lightly through Gary's hair.

"I do not need you to watch over me!" Gary said indignantly, pulling himself away from her.

"Good, then I'll see you when time's up." Kat turned and ran along a pathway, quickly falling out of sight.

Gary steadily walked in the opposite direction, not really sure where he was going. He walked along a patch of thick, tall grass but stopped when he heard a rustling sound nearby and turned to brace himself as a Venonat jumped out at him.

* * *

Mallory limped into Giovanni's office to find the leader of Team Rocket sitting back in his chair with his hands up to his head as if nursing a headache.

"What could you possibly want now?" Giovanni groaned as he heard her come in.

"Sir, there's been an incident." Mallory said, leaning against the door frame.

"An incident?" Giovanni put his hands down and looked up at her. "What could possibly have happened in the last few minutes? And what happened to you? You look like you just got hit by a Rhyhorn."

"I went to get rid of the intruders like you asked." Mallory explained. "But the woman that we had no record of must have been some kind of powerful psychic. She knocked me and the others that I had as backup away effortlessly without even touching us and then they teleported away."

"So let me get this straight." Giovanni raised his hand to his forehead and started massaging his temples as he spoke. "You let the intruders get away with full knowledge of our location and how to find us, meaning that this hideout, which has been the primary headquarters of Team Rocket throughout almost our entire history, has now been compromised, less than a day after we lost our base in Saffron City."

"Yes, sir." Mallory looked down at the floor in embarrassment and flinched as Giovanni walked up to her.

"What are we supposed to do now?" He yelled. "We can't stay here and we have nowhere else left to go at this point! We've lost almost everything within the past forty-eight hours and now we've lost the only base of operations that we had left. What do you suppose that we do now?"

"Well, sir…" Mallory did her best not to break into tears, both from fear and from her injuries. "This isn't actually our last base."

"What?" Giovanni asked flatly.

"When I was going through the archives earlier this morning, I found a locked filing cabinet that had apparently rusted open by a leak in the ceiling while we were in Saffron. Inside I found documents related to another Team Rocket facility on one of the northern islands of the Orange Archipelago."

"Do you mean the New Island laboratory? That facility was completely destroyed in a lab accident years ago."

"No, sir. We apparently had another facility on one of the other islands. It would appear that knowledge of it was kept top secret, even amongst the higher-ups of Team Rocket."

"Interesting…" Giovanni contemplated what this could mean. "What information were you able to gather about this secret facility?"

"Not much sir. It appears to have somehow been connected to the New Island laboratory, but that was all I could find. I didn't have time to look over the documents completely and a lot of them were water damaged from the leak and had become illegible."

"I think I have a plan for what we'll do for now. " Giovanni said. "We're going to find this secret facility and make it our new headquarters, at least for the time being until we can find a better alternative."

* * *

Red slowly opened his eyes and sat up. Yellow was lying beside him and Sable was also nearby, both also just regaining consciousness.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I don't know." Said Sable. "What is the last thing that you remember?"

"Well, we had just been captured by Team Rocket and they said that they were going to wipe our memories." Red recalled.

"There was something wrong with the lady's Pokémon." Yellow said. "But, I don't remember what."

"It would appear that they tried to take our memories away and dump us here but that it didn't work for some reason." Sable explained.

"I guess that makes sense." Red said as he got up onto his feet. "Although that doesn't really answer the question of where we are."

He looked around. They were on a sandy coastline, but not one that he recognized. He checked his watch and then looked up at the sun, determining that they must be on an eastern shore as the sun was over the ocean and it was still morning. There appeared to be a large city just a few miles north along the beach.

"I guess we should head over to that city to see where we are. Hopefully we're not too far away from where we were."

"That sounds good to me." Yellow said cheerfully.

"Everything sounds good to you."

"Not everything."

The three started heading towards the city, Sable staying a few paces behind Red and Yellow. She looked up at a nearby tree and glanced at Pikachu, who was freaking out from unexpectedly finding herself teleported from Celadon to this unknown location without any warning. Sable smiled, mildly bemused by Pikachu's reaction, before running to catch up to the others.

"I've never been to a beach like this before." She lied.

"I think I have." Yellow muttered. "I don't think that it was this one, though, but I don't really remember it at all. It's just a feeling."

"Well, that's better than nothing." Red said. "You were also able to identify a lighthouse a while ago, so I'm starting to think that you may be from somewhere along a coastline."

"Do you think this city could be where I'm from?"

"I don't know. It seems like that would be an unlikely coincidence, but then again it could be. We'll just have to see."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I see more clearly now than ever. Team Rocket was holding us back."

Hun stood at the edge of a small river, Attila sitting next to him. They watched their discarded jackets be carried away by the water.

"I'm no longer content being a lackey for a weakling like Giovanni." Attila continued. "What kind of organization can't even handle dealing with children? We're much better striking it out on our own. It shouldn't take us long before we become the strongest Pokémon hunters this country has ever known. No, we'll be the best Pokémon hunters in the world."

"I'm still not convinced that this is the best thing to do." Hun said. "But I will follow you along whatever path you choose to follow."

"I know you will." Attila stood up and put on his sunglasses. "I can always count on you to have my back."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"I think it's high time that we went after that brat from Mount Moon. He's gone far too long without having to pay for standing up to us."

"You mean standing up to you."

"Is there a difference."

"Not really."


	88. Chapter 88

Gary wandered aimlessly around the jungle wilderness that was the Safari Zone, unsure of how exactly he was supposed to get out when his time was up or how some people could consider this fun. It felt to him like several hours had passed already and he stopped trying to keep track of where he was. He turned around a corner and saw a large building up ahead that was much bigger than the various rest houses he had already passed by. His interest peaked, Gary headed towards it cautiously, not wanting to be ambushed by yet another stray Pokémon.

"Seriously," Gary muttered to himself, "how can Kat _enjoy_ this place?"

As Gary walked up to the building, Gary saw a sign next to the door.

"Safari Zone Secret House." Gary read aloud. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He reached up to the doorknob and opened the door slowly. The interior of the building was immediately greeted by a man in a Safari Zone uniform.

"Welcome to the Secret House!" The man said enthusiastically. "Congratulations!"

"What?" Gary reflexively backed up and held his arms up slightly in what was supposed to be a defensive position, a bizarre look on his face. "What are you on about?"

"Why, you won the contest, of course." The man said as if that was supposed to explain everything.

"What contest?" Gary asked as he slowly lowered his arms back down and assumed a calmer stance.

"The contest to find this place." The man's smile began to fade as it became clear that Gary had no idea what he was talking about.

"What kind of contest is that? This place is already a nightmare to try and get around in, why would you try and make it more complicated by having some stupid contest thing?"

"To add an extra level of challenge and reward for those who frequent the Safari Zone. Are you saying that you honestly just found this place by accident?"

"Obviously." Gary said indignantly. "I'm completely lost right now."

"Oh, well you can make your way back to the entrance by just heading down the way from this building and making a right turn. You'll need to get across a river to get there, though. Or you can just wait until your time runs out and a staff member will come to pick you up. Anyway, do you still want your prize for winning the contest?"

"What prize?" Gary couldn't help but ask.

"I give you this." The man pulled out a small piece of paper that looked like a certificate of some kind. "And then when you leave you can show it to one of our workers who will be able to teach one of your Pokémon how to use the move Surf, which will not only let you ride it properly over water but is also quite useful in Pokémon battles."

"You have my full and undivided attention." Gary said.

* * *

Daisy and Giselle walked along the road to Fuchsia City in relative silence until they came to a point where a tree blocked the way.

"Well, this is just great." Giselle sighed. "Who let a tree grow here?"

"Yay!" Daisy pumped her fist up in the air, startling Giselle.

"How is this something to be excited about?"

"It means that I can finally use the move." Daisy answered as she reached down into her bag.

"What move? What are you talking about?"

"The move that the Cut Master taught me after I helped an old man find his granddaughter on the S.S. Anne before it sunk in a mysterious storm that no one actually remembers and that may or may not have been the result of a stray school of Gyarados." Daisy pulled out Ivysaur's Pokéball and let it out.

"Okay, you're just making that up to mess with me." Giselle said, annoyed.

"No, that really happened. Now, Ivysaur, use Cut to take down that tree!"

Ivysaur readied itself and prepared for the attack. It then fired a leaf from the plant growing out of its back that was larger and stronger than a normal Razor Leaf and glowed bright white. The leaf launched at the tree so quickly that it was hard to follow and for a moment it appeared as if the leaf had somehow passed harmlessly through the tree without making a mark. And then, a second later, the top half of the tree slid off and fell to the ground away from the road, leaving just a stump where it had been.

"Wow!" Daisy said. "That was even cooler than I thought it would be."

"I mean, I _guess_ that was impressive." Giselle looked away and shrugged. "It would have been faster and easier to have just went around it, though."

"Whatever. I just wanted to actually use the move for once."

* * *

Gary walked away from the Secret House, feeling pretty good about himself. That feeling was short-lived, however, as he soon tripped over a rock. He let out a yell as he fell hard onto the ground before picking himself back up and turning around to look at the rock. The first thing he noticed was that it seemed to shine bright yellow in the sun.

"Is that gold?" Gary wondered aloud in surprise as he reached down to pick it up and soon realized that it wasn't a rock at all. "Oh, ew!"

Gary was holding a set of golden dentures, still slightly damp.

"Why would someone just leave these here in the middle of nowhere? In fact, this isn't even nowhere, this place is worse than nowhere."

Gary was about to throw the golden dentures away, but then it occurred to him that whoever left them here probably wasn't going to be able to find them again anyway and they were probably worth quite a bit of money.

"I mean, it's not exactly stealing, is it?" He pondered. "But then again it is kind of heavy to be carrying around, not to mention gross. And I have managed to get a couple new Pokémon here plus that new move that I'll be getting when I leave, so it's not like I'd be leaving here empty handed if I don't take it. I just don't know."

Gary then leaped up to his feet and braced himself as he heard a loud muffled noise behind him. To his surprise, it wasn't a Pokémon running up to him, but a stout, elderly looking man. The man stopped in front of Gary and stopped to catch his breath, clutching his knees tightly before raising one hand to point at the golden dentures in Gary's hand and gesturing for Gary to hand them to him, opening his mouth to show his scarlet gums, devoid of teeth. The sight would have seemed comical to Gary if he didn't find it so pathetic.

"Fine, here you go old man." Gary held out the dentures, which the old man quickly grabbed and shoved into his mouth without even checking for dirt first. Gary was sure that was some kind of health hazard, but he didn't say anything.

"Thank you." The old man said, suddenly gaining an air of composure that he lacked a moment before. "My dentures fell out when I was patrolling the Safari Zone from the air earlier and I've been looking everywhere for them ever since. I was starting to lose hope in finding them."

"Perhaps you shouldn't make them out of something so heavy and needlessly valuable as gold." Gary pointed out.

"You've got me there." The old man chuckled, even though Gary didn't mean it as a joke. "Anyway, I'm Kaiser Baoba, the warden here at the Safari Zone."

"Warden?" Gary questioned. "You mean like a prison?"

"No, no. This isn't a prison, it's a place where people can experience what it truly means to hunt Pokémon."

"That doesn't really sound much better." Gary pointed out.

"Okay, perhaps I could have worded that better." Warden Baoba said. "The Safari Zone is a place that allows trainers to see what it was like for the Pokémon Trainers of old who had to catch their Pokémon on their own without modern conveniences."

"You mean like Pokéballs." Gary held up one of his remaining Safari Balls.

"Never mind." Baoba shook his head in defeat. "Anyway, come meet me at the entrance when you're done here, I want to give you a reward for finding my dentures for me. I'm going to teach one of your Pokémon how to use the move Strength."

"Sure." Gary said sarcastically. "Why not? Maybe everyone here just wants to teach my Pokémon new moves. It's not like there are other things that could be given out as rewards than moves."

"So you're saying that you don't want one of your Pokémon to be able to push large boulders out of your way when you need to?" Baoba asked.

"I didn't say I didn't want the move." Gary said quickly.


	89. Chapter 89

"Does this place look familiar to you at all?" Red asked Yellow as they reached the edge of the unknown city.

"No." Yellow answered disappointedly. "I don't feel like I've been here before."

"Well, it's possible that it's just that this part of town doesn't hold any significant memories for you but it seems more likely that this probably isn't where you're from." Red said. "Although I still don't know where we actually are right now."

It was a modestly sized city, not as big as the likes of Saffron or Celadon, but still probably one of the larger cities in Kanto, assuming that they were even still in Kanto. The city seemed to have an active harbor that was probably the main source of the city's income and prosperity.

"Try to keep a lookout for a Pokémon Center that we can stop at." Red instructed Yellow and Sable. "They should be able to tell us where we are and we can stop to rest."

"That reminds me," Sable said, "weren't you supposed to meet up with that guy from the last Pokémon Center we were at?"

"Oh, yeah!" Red exclaimed as he suddenly remembered. "He was going to help us get a Trainer's Permit for Yellow so that she could keep her own Pokémon."

"We could call him when we get to the Pokémon Center to tell him why we can't meet him right now." Yellow suggested.

"Yeah." Red agreed. "Except for one problem: we don't know his number."

"Perhaps you could try calling the Celadon Pokémon Center. He's probably still there trying to fix the… thing he was trying to fix." Sable pointed out.

"Yeah, I suppose he probably is. Of course, we still need to actually find a Pokémon Center first."

"We could always ask for directions."

"Hey, look." Yellow pointed at a building up ahead with a familiar red roof. "I think that's it over there."

* * *

Gary walked over to the Safari Ball lying on the ground a few feet in front of him. He knelt down and picked it up, looking at the camouflage pattern on the unique Pokéball's upper half. He was starting to get used to how the Safari Zone worked, though he still preferred catching Pokémon the normal way. The Safari Ball vanished in a flash of light as the Pinsir inside it was transferred to the Pokémon Storage System where it would no doubt be cared for at his grandfather's ranch along with all of his other spare Pokémon, as well as those of all of the other Kanto trainers.

"Let's see…" Gary muttered to himself. "That makes a Rhyhorn, a Tauros, two Pinsir, a Venonat, a Doduo and a Slowpoke. Definitely better than I was expecting to get and I've still got one Safari Ball left. Hopefully I can put it to some good use."

Gary froze as he heard a now-familiar rustling sound behind him. He ducked down and slowly turned around to face the nearby trees. A large brown Pokémon walking on its hind legs walked out into the sunlight and yawned, stretching its arms out before scratching its back and looking around lazily.

"Kangaskhan." Gary muttered under his breath, recognizing the rare Pokémon.

The Kangaskhan didn't notice that Gary was there and began to head over towards the nearby river. Gary followed it quietly, making sure to keep enough distance between himself and the Pokémon not to draw its attention. As the Kangaskhan reached the riverside and sat down in front of the flowing water, Gary readied himself and threw his last Safari Ball at it. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the Safari Ball head towards the Kangaskhan as it held something up above its head. Gary felt his heart stop for a beat as he realized what it was that the Kangaskhan was holding.

Gary mentally kicked himself for being so stupid as he suddenly began sprinting towards where the Kangaskhan was sitting. It was a Kangaskhan, after all, of course it would have its child with it. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, as when a baby Kangaskhan is in its mother's pouch Pokéballs treat them as a single Pokémon. But the baby wasn't in the pouch right now.

The Safari Ball hit Kangaskhan on the back of its neck and the Parent Pokémon was sucked into it with a bolt of green light. Gary leaped forward towards the river, passing by the Safari Ball as it landed on the ground, not even paying attention to see if it would catch its target or not. That wasn't his concern at the moment. He twisted himself around in the air and caught the baby Kangakhan in his outstretched arms right before he fell into the river. Gary had to struggle to keep the baby above the river's surface as he had to swim back to shore.

Gary managed to get both himself and the baby Pokémon onto land. He coughed up the water that had gotten into his lungs as he searched the shoreline for the Safari Ball and found it still lying on the ground as it made its final click and the light went out, showing that the Kangaskhan had been successfully captured. Without stopping to catch his breath, he quickly picked up the Safari Ball, praying that he would have enough time. He tapped the Safari Ball lightly against the crying baby Kangaskhan and it was pulled into it with the same green light that had just enveloped its mother just a moment before. As soon as it was inside the Safari Ball, the Safari Ball vanished from his hand in another flash of light.

Now that the nightmare was over and he had successfully managed to save the baby Kangaskhan and reunite it with its mother, Gary collapsed onto the ground. He looked up at the clear blue sky as he continued to gasp for breath, completely oblivious to the loud whistling sound that signaled that his time was up. After he continued to lay there for a moment, he saw the shadow of a large bird Pokémon fly overhead and the Pidgeot dove down to land near him.

"Are you alright?" Asked the Pidgeot's rider, a Safari Zone worker.

"Never better." Gary said sarcastically.

"Well, your time here is up. I'm here to take you back to the entrance."

"Thank you." Gary sighed. "And here I thought I was going to have to walk all of the way back there."

* * *

Ash looked around at the stadium in amazement. He had watched the Pokémon League on TV but it did not prepare him to see the overwhelming awe that he felt actually being able to stand in one of the arenas where the strongest trainers in the region would gather every year to put themselves to the test and see who was truly worthy of the title of Pokémon Master.

"I know, right?" Carmine said, amused by Ash's reaction to the place, but also remembering how he had felt himself when he had fought in the Pokémon League all those years ago. "We have this whole place to ourselves for the day."

"I can't believe it." Ash said absently. "This is so amazing!"

"If you think this place is cool now, you should wait until you can actually battle here for real. Hearing the roar of the crowd as thousands of people watch you face off in the hardest battles of your life, cheering on your every victory. It can be nerve-wracking, but at the same time it makes you feel… invincible."

"I can't wait!"

"In fact, now that I think about it this might actually be the exact same stadium where your dad and I faced off in the final round. We fought long and hard. I was able to get the upper hand early on, but it was still fairly close. And then your father was able to luck out in the end and beat me, like he always did… er, does."

"That must have been amazing to see." Ash said.

"Yeah." Carmine smiled. "You know, we should see if we can find a recording of it to watch sometime. Not right now though. Now it's time to see what you've got and make sure that you can shape up to be the best you can be. This may just be a practice match, but I still want you to give it your all. It's the only way to improve."


	90. Chapter 90

Ash and Carmine went off in opposite directions. When they reached the ends of the battlefield, they turned around to face each other and readied themselves for a fight.

"I'm going to open the battle with my Ursaring!" Carmine called out to Ash. "Use that information to choose what Pokémon you will start with!"

Ash thought for a moment. The Pokémon he had with him right now were Fearow, Sandslash, Kingler and Gastly. Between those four, he felt that Gastly would be the best choice for the battle.

"Come on out, Gastly!" Ash said as he called out the Ghost-type Pokémon, who floated around in the air above the battlefield.

"Good, good." Carmine said. "None of your Pokémon have an advantage over my Normal-type Ursaring, but Normal and Ghost-types are immune to each other, putting us both at a mutual disadvantage by not being able to rely on moves of those types. However, there is one thing that you overlooked!"

"What's that?" Ash asked, going over the type matchup in his head and not figuring out what he was missing.

"In a real battle, you never know what Pokémon your opponent is going to use! Go, Sneasel!" Carmine threw an Ultra Ball towards the center of the arena and the small Sharp Claw Pokémon landed on the ground, assuming a defensive position. "You must always be prepared for things not to go the way that you thought that they would and you always have to have a plan of how to deal with unexpected disadvantages. My Sneasel is a Dark-type, which has the advantage over your Gastly's Ghost-typing. Which in addition to the fact that all of my Pokémon are far stronger than yours are, even if I'm holding back, puts you at a severe disadvantage."

"That's not fair!" Ash whined.

"Life's not fair and neither are people like Team Rocket!" Carmine argued. "Unless you put the Raticate King in your party or caught any more Pokémon without my knowledge, and I seriously doubt that you've done either of those two things, then you should have four Pokémon. If you can take down two of mine before I wipe out your entire team, then you'll win this match and we'll move on to teaching your Pokémon some new moves. If you lose, then we'll get your Pokémon healed up and try again until you win or until the sun goes down."

"Fine." Ash said. "Then let's just get this over with."

"Alright then. The battle begins… now!"

Sneasel rushed towards Gastly and slashed at him with its claws coated in the dark aura of a Shadow Claw attack. The attack struck Gastly across his face and Gastly was forced to back away as he winced in pain. Gastly tried to counter by sending out a wave of Dark Pulse, however, the attack barely fazed Sneasel, who gathered his hands together to form a ball of frost that hardened into a sphere of solid ice. He then thrust his arms out towards Gastly and the Ice Shard launched towards the Ghost-type at high speed, striking Gastly before he even had a chance to react.

Gastly then used Payback, glowing purple before several beams of dark energy shot out from his body and pummeled Sneasel into the ground. Sneasel was quick to recover and did a backflip back onto his feet, surrounding his claws in the same icy energy used for his Ice Shard attack in preparation for an Ice Punch, but not quite quick enough. Gastly was able to use Sucker Punch to hit Sneasel with a shadowy fist that materialized from the purple gas enveloping Gastly's body.

"You're doing pretty well so far." Carmine said to Ash. "But how long will that last?"

Gastly attempted to hit Sneasel with a Shadow Ball but the sphere of spectral energy passed harmlessly through the spot where Sneasel had just been standing as he melted away into the shadows. Gastly looked around for where Sneasel had gone, only for Sneasel to reappear behind him and strike with a Feint Attack. Gastly's purple smoke retracted back into him as the black mass that composed his body fell to the ground.

"That's one down and three more to go." Carmine said condescendingly. "You're not off to a good start."

Ash sighed as he recalled Gastly into its Pokéball and worked on choosing who to send out next. Fearow and Sandslash were both weak to Ice-type moves, which left Kingler as his only viable option against Sneasel. He grabbed Kingler's Pokéball and lifted it up. "Kingler, use Metal Claw!"

The orange crab Pokémon sprang out of its Pokéball with its large left pincer held back and shining silver before thrusting its pincer out, propelling itself towards Sneasel with the momentum of the attack in order to try and hit the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Sneasel dodged the attack by leaping up high into the air and crossing his arms above his head and they began to glow before he flip upside down and dove straight into Kingler with an Aeriel Ace. Kingler stumbled back from the blow but was able to swipe at Sneasel with another Metal Claw. This time the attack hit and Sneasel was sent flying back from the force of it before landing hard onto the ground, unable to get back up again.

"Alright!" Carmine said encouragingly as he recalled Sneasel. "You're halfway done now. Take out my next Pokémon and you've won. And in only one try, even."

Carmine reached for one of the other Pokéballs around his belt. He grabbed one with a yellow top and button with a blue ring around it. Ash didn't recognize the design. From the strange Pokéball, Carmine sent out his second Pokémon, Scizor. Seeing the large red Bug and Steel-type reminded Ash of the one he and the others had encountered the day before in the Silph Company building, under the ownership of the man in the strange yellow mask. Compared to that one, Carmine's Scizor had a brighter coloration and seemed to be a couple inches shorter, but Ash wasn't entirely sure about that.

Scizor dashed towards Kingler so fast that Ash could barely keep track of it before hitting Kingler with a Metal Claw of his own, knocking Kingler to the ground with his legs sprawled out. Kingler retaliated by raising up its left pincer, the inside of which began to glow blue before launching out a spray of Bubble Beam. The bubbles popped as they hit Scizor, drenching him in water. Scizor tried to fly up into the air but found himself weighed down by the water to the point where he could barely lift off the ground. Despite this, Scizor crossed his arms in front of his chest and his pincers began to glow before he slashed his arms, creating a powerful whirlwind between himself and Kingler. Kingler tried to use Bubble Beam again, but the bubbles were torn apart by the whirlwind, which slowly moved towards Kingler. When it reached him, Kingler was sucked into it and tossed about by the Razor Wind before crashing down to the ground, unconscious.

"And that makes two down." Carmine pointed out. "If my Scizor can take down your other two, then you lose the battle and we'll have to start all over again. On the other hand, you only need to take down my Scizor in order to win. The battle could go either way at this point."

"Like there's any way I could lose this fight." Ash said, more to himself than to Carmine. He considered his options. Neither Fearow nor Sandslash had any advantages against Scizor, but at the same time, he was sure that Scizor didn't have any moves that would be super effective against either of them, which made both Pokémon equally valid options for this fight. Fearow could fly, allowing him to battle Scizor in the air, and with Scizor weighed down as much as he was, Scizor would have the advantage of speed and maneuverability. On the other hand, Sandslash was smaller and would make a harder target for Scizor to hit. He wasn't sure if it really mattered which one he sent out first since he would be able to use the other if the first one lost to Scizor, who would hopefully at least be weak enough that his last Pokémon would be able to take it down quickly and easily.

"I'm waiting." Carmine said, tapping his foot on the tiled ground impatiently.

Ash sighed and grabbed one of his remaining Pokéballs. "Give it everything you've got!"


	91. Chapter 91

Ash held out his Pokéball at arm's length pressed the front button to unleash the Pokémon inside. The great brown wings of his mighty Fearow spread outstretched as the impressively large bird took to the air.

"Keep to the skies!" Ash commanded his Pokémon. "His Scizor won't be able to follow you up there while it's still weighed down!"

Fearow spun around dramatically as he flew straight up into the air. As he reached the peak of his ascension, Fearow folded his wings back up to his body and started to fall before spreading his wings again to cast a huge shadow over his opponent.

"That's quite the entrance." Carmine said. "If Fearow had Intimidate as its ability I'm sure that would have been quite effective. But Fearow don't have that ability so the theatrics were meaningless."

"We'll see about that!" Ash shouted back before looking up to his Fearow. "Use Fly!"

Fearow fly up ever higher into the sky, preparing to dive-bomb into Scizor with as much force as possible.

"Agility!" Carmine ordered his Scizor.

Scizor flew around the battlefield, shaking off as much of the water as he could so that he wouldn't be slowed down any longer. As Fearow dove back down beak-first towards Scizor, Scizor attempted to dodge out of the way but was still too slow. Fearow managed to hit Scizor straight in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Scizor winced slightly as he sat up, preparing to lift off from the ground and use Agility again to try and increase his speed. However, Fearow used Drill Peck, hitting Scizor on its right shoulder and flying back. Scizor slid along the ground, using his pincers to slow himself to a halt and flip out the way of another Drill Peck, jumping over Fearow and hitting him from behind with a Bullet Punch. Fearow was knocked into the ground and tried to pick himself back up, but Scizor pinned him down with a Quick Attack, striking Fearow's left wing with the pointed ends of his feet.

Fearow let out a squawk of pain as the dagger-like toes dug into its wing before Scizor backflipped into the air, getting ready for a Metal Claw. Scizor dove down to strike Fearow, but thanks to a well-timed Mirror Move from Fearow, Scizor found himself being the one getting hit. Scizor backed away to recover, giving Fearow enough time to get back up and into the air and turning to face Scizor. Scizor assumed an offensive stance, his right pincer glowing with the silvery aura that indicated that he was about to use Iron Claw again. Fearow prepared to counter with Drill Peck. After a moment, both Pokémon charged towards each other in midair and landing their attacks with perfect accuracy before landing on the ground with their backs turned to each other.

A still silence passed over the battle and Ash found himself holding his breath in anticipation to see what would happen. After a few seconds that seemed much longer than they really were, Scizor fell to one knee, wincing in pain once again. Another second after that and Fearow collapsed to the ground.

"That was a close one." Carmine taunted. "Almost had me on my toes just then. You've got one Pokémon left and my Scizor's almost out for the count. Think you can manage the win?"

"Of course I can!" Ash yelled at him as he recalled Fearow back into its Pokéball. He wasn't sure if Carmine's taunting was supposed to be a part of the training or not, but it was starting to make it hard for him to think straight. "You can do it Sandslash!"

Ash threw his last Pokéball and Sandslash pooped out of it, spinning in the air as it fell before landing on the ground. Scizor used Swords Dance as Sandshrew landed. Twelve swords of blue energy materialized around Scizor and spun around him before crossing each other above his head. Scizor seemed to glow red as the swords vanished, indicating the boost in power that the swords had granted him. Sandslash used Defense Curl, curling up into a spiked ball as Scizor moved in for an attack. Scizor rushed up to Sandslash almost instantly and hit him with a Metal Claw. The balled up Mouse Pokémon was knocked back a couple feet from the attack but then used Rollout, barreling towards Scizor and knocking him back as he hit him. Scizor stumbled and left himself open for another hit of Rollout, Sandslash jumping up and hitting Scizor right in the chest. Scizor was knocked back and fell to the ground, unable to get back up again.

"Well, well. It looks like you managed to win this after all." Carmine said. "Not that I really expected you to lose. Now let's go back and get our Pokémon healed up. After that, we'll get started on improving your Pokémon's movesets."

"But wouldn't it have made more sense to have the battle after teaching my Pokémon new moves?" Ash asked.

"This was a test to make sure that you and your team are ready." Carmine explained. "I wanted to make sure that you are able to make do with what you already know before teaching you more. What would be the point of teaching your Pokémon new moves if they can't even use the ones that they already have more effectively?"

"I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do. Now come on, we don't have all day."

* * *

"So how was it?" Kat asked Gary when they met up at the Safari Zone entrance.

"Not really my thing." Gary replied. "But at least I got some rare Pokémon out of it."

"So did I." Kat said eagerly. "I actually managed to get a Chansey. They're supposed to be one of the rarest Pokémon in the entire region."

"Wow." Gary said in genuine astonishment.

"Anyway, we should probably get our stuff back now. We just need to see that guy over there." Kat pointed to the man standing behind a desk that had taken their bags and Pokémon when they had entered the Safari Zone and headed over to him. After Kat had gotten her stuff, Gary walked up to the man.

"Here you go." The man said as he handed Gary his backpack and his belt full of Pokéballs. "We hope you had a nice time at the Safari Zone and that we will see you here again sometime."

"You sound like a Pokémon Center nurse." Gary remarked as he took his bag and belt from the man. "Are you the guy that I'm supposed to show this to?"

The man's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the certificate Gary held up. The one that he had been given back at the Secret House.

"Um, no. Actually you want to talk to that guy over there." He pointed to another man at the other end of the building. "Although I'm surprised that you even managed to get that so soon. We only just started that promotion today."

"Right, well then I'll be going now." Gary turned around and headed towards the other man.

"Can I help you with anything?" The other man asked in a tone of voice that indicated that he was doing his best to mask his boredom.

Gary held up the certificate. "You're supposed to teach one of my Pokémon how to learn Surf, right?"

"Why, yes. If you could just show me whatever Pokémon that you want to learn the move, we'll head out back and I'll teach it."

"Wait! Hold On!"

Gary turned to see who was shouting and saw Warden Baoba running up to them.

"I'm glad that I got here in time." Baoba said, catching his breath. "I meant to be here waiting for you but I had some business that I had to deal with. Anyway, I was going to teach you the move Strength."

"Right." Gary said before turning back to the other guy and holding out a Pokéball. "Anyway, I want my Wartortle to learn Surf. And I guess I'll go with my Nidoqueen for Strength."

"Alright then." The man said with obviously forced enthusiasm, having just tried his best not to react to the Warden's sudden appearance. "Let's get going then."

"I'll meet you out front!" Kat called to Gary as she headed towards the front door.

"Yeah, whatever!" Gary called back. "Smell ya later!"


	92. Chapter 92

"There's a call for you."

Bill was snapped out of a dazed state by the woman's voice. He turned to face the Pokémon Center nurse who was holding up a green phone, ready to hand it to him.

"Oh, sure. I'll take it." Bill said, walking over to her.

"Are you alright?" The nurse asked as Bill took the phone receiver from her.

"I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up. I'll explain what happened later. In the meantime, I think I've fixed the PC." Bill said before holding the phone up to his ear. "Hello, this is Bill."

"Hi, Bill. Sorry we couldn't meet you in person." Said a familiar voice on the other end of the line. Bill looked down at the video screen on the phone console to see Red and Yellow, along with some woman that Bill was sure that he had never seen before. It looked like they were in a Pokémon Center, but if they were then they couldn't still be in Celadon or else they would have to be standing right next to him.

"What's going on?" Bill asked them. "Where are you guys?"

"We're not entirely sure." Red answered. "But the nurse here said that we're in a city called Porta Vista."

"Porta Vista?" Bill repeated in surprise. "But that's clear on the other side of the region! How did you manage to get all of the way over there so quickly?"

"We're not sure. Yellow wondered off so Sable and I went looking for her and then we all found ourselves in a Team Rocket hideout. They managed to capture us and said that they were going to wipe our memories so that we wouldn't be able to tell anyone about them and then… we just woke up on a beach and walked to the nearest city."

"That's quite the story." Bill said. "But then again I have my own story to share. I'll tell you what; I'm going to finish up here and then I'm heading over there to meet up with you."

"Are you all right?" Yellow grabbed the phone away from Red to ask Bill. "You look kind of like your sick or something."

"I'll be fine." Bill replied. "I'll explain later. Anyway, I'll see you later. Bye."

"Bye!" Both Red and Yellow said.

Bill hung up the phone and walked over to the Pokémon Center's front desk where the nurse had resumed her usual duty of waiting for trainers in need.

"It looks like the PC system should be working fine now." Bill told the nurse. "So I'm going to head out now. If you have any more technical issues then just give me a call."

* * *

Giovanni walked out the side exit of the Rocket Game Corner, followed by Mallory, the Iron Masked Marauder and several agents of Team Rocket.

"Alright." Giovanni said as he turned to face the others. "It looks like we have almost everyone here right now that's going with us, but has anyone seen Agent Masque?"

"I'm here, sir."

Giovanni gave a slight start as Masque seemed to appear out of nowhere beside him.

"What happened to you?" Giovanni asked, noting that the girl's visible eye appeared to be bloodshot and the side of her nose left exposed appeared to be red.

"It would appear that being here in Celadon City has caused me to experience a severe allergic reaction to the abundance of plant-life in the area." Masque explained.

"Hm." The Iron Masked Marauder grunted as he pulled out a small notebook. "So the effects of Project Dark don't affect hay fever. That's interesting."

"Fine then." Giovanni said, annoyance evident in his face. "To get you up to speed, Agent Masque, our headquarters here have been compromised and so we are retreating to a previously unknown secret base. You are to come with us in the advance party before we send the rest of our remaining forces there."

"Yes, sir." Masque said, giving a salute.

"Now let's get going before anything happens to get in our way." Giovanni ordered everyone there.

"Excuse me, sir." Said the Iron Masked Marauder. "But shouldn't we bring the Dark Synergy Crystal with us? If anything were to happen to it without my supervision, then we could potentially lose the core component to Project Dark."

"Fine then." Giovanni sighed, resting his face in his right hand. "But you should have brought this up sooner. Take those two and bring it over here as quickly as possible. We should have room on the transport ship for the crystal's containment unit."

The Iron Masked Marauder walked back into the building along with the two agents that Giovanni had indicated, Butch and Cassidy, so that they could get the crystal ready for transport.

"Now then," Giovanni said, turning to the others, "does anyone else have anything that they need to do before we leave? No? Good."

* * *

"Okay, back to training." Carmine said as he and Ash walked back out into the Pokémon tournament arena that they were using. "Let's start with your Fearow since it's the first Pokémon you caught."

Ash grabbed Fearow's Pokéball from around his belt and tossed it into the air. Fearow emerged from the Pokéball and began circling around above their heads.

"You're Fearow is a pretty decent physical attacker with good speed to back it up." Carmine explained. "In fact, I think your Fearow is probably the strongest that I've ever seen at least in terms of physical attack, which probably has something to do with how it's around a foot or so taller than the average Fearow. That strength and size advantage is probably why it was the head of its flock before you caught him."

Ash shuddered, remembering being attacked by the flock of Spearow back on his first day as a trainer. He was sure that he still had a few marks left from them pecking at him, though Carmine insisted that he was imagining it.

"Now I've already taught your Fearow how to use Fly so that you can use him as a mode of transportation when the situation requires it, but I think we can give him a few moves to make him a bit more versatile in battle. My Skarmory should be able to teach him Steel Wing, which he'll be able to put to good use with his high physical attack, but I also want to give him a ranged attack. I don't think any of your Pokémon are quite ready for Hyper Beam yet and there isn't really much of a variety of ranged attacks that Fearow can actually learn, so I'm thinking Echoed Voice is really our only option for that right now. I also want him to learn Roost since being able to heal itself is always a useful trick."

"That all sounds good to me." Ash said.

"And I think I'll have Sneasel try and teach him Thief, just in case it might come in handy someday. You never know with these things. Is there anything else that you think Fearow should learn how to do?"

"Well, I don't really know what kinds of moves that he can learn." Ash said honestly.

"Alright then." Carmine nodded as he reached down for one of his Ultra Balls. "I guess we'll just get right to it then. Come on out, Skarmory! Let's see you show off one of your famous Steel Wing attacks!"

Carmine's Armor Bird Pokémon flew straight up out of the Ultra Ball, passing by where Fearow was circling in the air and leveling out to fly parallel to the ground. Ash, Carmine and Fearow watched as Skarmory's wings began to glow silver as Skarmory flew past, leaving streaks of the silver energy forming lines behind the tips of its wings before Skarmory slowed to a stop.

"And now, Fearow," Carmine said to Ash's Flying-type, "I want you to try and mimic that as best as you can. Once you've mastered it we can move on."

Fearow hovered in the air, concentrating on trying to bring cloak its wings in the silver energy of the attack.

"This may take a while." Carmine said. "I suppose we could probably head up to the stands and sit down while we wait."

"That sounds better than standing around here." Ash agreed.

"Come on, the way up it over here." Carmine ran over to one end of the stadium, motioning over his shoulder for Ash to follow. Fearow flew around in the air, still trying to bring out the energy for a Steel Wing attack.


	93. Chapter 93

"You know, when we signed up for this I kind of thought we'd do more… well, anything really."

Annie laid back on her bed reading a magazine while Annie was sitting backwards on a chair with her arms crossed and resting on the back of the chair.

"Well we've only been here for a few days." Annie tried to reassure her younger sister without looking up. "You can't expect us to already be hunting down rare Pokémon."

"Of course I can!" Oakley snapped. "We agreed to work for Hunter J to go around hunting rare Pokémon and selling them for as much as we can. We were supposed to be able to take whatever we want whenever we want it. But instead, she just has us sitting around here while she gets all of the action!"

"You don't even know what she's doing right now." Annie turned the page.

"Exactly! We just have to stay here completely out of the loop with no idea what's going on! At least back in Team Rocket, we were able to get our hands dirty get some excitement."

"Are you saying that we should have stuck with Team Rocket?" Annie asked, finally glancing at her sister.

"Yes! No! I don't know." Oakley shook her head. "I just want to do something! Anything!"

The door to their room suddenly slid open, revealing Hunter J standing on the other side.

"You two, one your feet! Now!"

Annie and Oakley obeyed the command without hesitation.

"I'm not sure if you've heard yet, but there's been a bit of a shakeup over in Team Rocket lately." Hunter J explained. "Apparently they lost their headquarters in Saffron last night, in addition to having already lost the support of…" She trailed off for a moment. "Well, let's just say that they lost their biggest supporters."

Annie and Oakley stared at their boss in astonishment, not sure if they could even believe what they were hearing.

"Now as I'm sure you can probably guess, that means that the organization in considerably weakened right now. That gives us the perfect opportunity to swoop in and take as much of their former assets as we can. That means people, Pokémon, anything that we can get our hands on. We may be small now, but soon Team Huntress will be a force to be reckoned with!"

"I thought you told us that we were going to be called Neo Cipher." Oakley pointed out.

Hunter J grimaced. "That name… isn't going to work out. We're going to be called Team Huntress from now on. Now come on, let's get going! Time is money, as the saying goes."

* * *

Gary strutted out of the Safari Zone with his head held high. Kat was standing outside, ready to greet him.

"What's gotten into you?" Kat asked him.

"Nothing, really." Gary said. "It's just great to be me."

"Sure it is." Kat rolled her eyes as they both started walking towards Fuchsia City to meet up with the others.

"So I suppose that you're going to want to take on the local Gym Leader next." Kat said.

"But of course."

"Well, you should know that he's a Poison-type specialist, known for using a wide variety of tricks in battle. He's the kind of trainer that tends to through the unsuspecting off guard."

"Then I suppose you shouldn't tell me any more so that I can figure out how to fight him on my own." Gary said. "There's no fun if you just have all of the answers handed out to you before the battle."

"Well if you want to go in blind, then I guess I'll let you. You might come to regret it, though."

"If I lose a battle then it's my own fault for being weak. Not that I'll ever lose."

"You mean like how you didn't lose to Ash back on the S.S. Anne?" Kat asked teasingly.

Gary's confident smile turned to a disgruntled expression. "That was just bad luck." He defended himself. "There's no way that he'll be able to beat me again."

"You do realize that he has Mr. Noire available to train him, right? Plus those two Gym Leaders that he's apparently traveling with now. He might already have enough of a lead on you in terms of training that you might not be able to catch up."

"Don't be ridiculous." Gary scoffed. "He could be taught by the best trainers in the whole world and it still wouldn't be enough. I'm better than that loser and that's the end of that."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. You were probably too young to really remember it, but Mr. Ketchum used to tell us stories of when he was a trainer just heading out on his Pokémon journey. He was a 'loser', as you so delicately put it, when he was a kid but by the time he made it to the Pokémon League he was one of the greatest Pokémon Trainers that the region had ever seen."

"Yeah, but that was in Johto, wasn't it? No one cares about that backwater place."

"You do know that Johto in literally right next to Kanto, right? And that they share the same Pokémon League with us? From what I've heard, a lot of people don't even make a distinction between us."

"That's because most people are idiots." Gary said. "And besides, it doesn't change the fact that I am going to be the greatest Pokémon Master that the entire world has ever seen. It's only a matter of time at this point."

"Well then I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Hey, look! I think I can see the car from here."

* * *

Jessie, James and Meowth climbed out of the Cerulean Cave had to raise their hands to block out the bright sunlight beating down on them. They had never experienced anything like what they had just been through in that cave and they were sure that they never wanted to again. James held up an Ultra Ball and stared at it, imagining the monster that was now trapped within it. It had taken the combined might of all of their Pokémon together using all of the strength that their advanced training had given them to subdue it so that they could catch that monster and even more frighteningly, he was sure that the thing had already been extremely weakened by something. He could only imagine how strong it would be at full power and the thought send a chill running down his spine.

"What are you doing?" Jessie asked him, fear in her voice. "Put that thing away. There's no way to know if that _thing_ will even listen to us or not and I really don't want to find out the hard way."

"R-right." James put the Ultra Ball back into his pocket. "What do you think it even _is_?"

"I don't know. Now, can we please talk about something else right now?"

"Who do you think that man was? The one that was frozen in the cave."

"I have no idea about that either and I really don't want to talk about anything that just happened right now so stop bringing it up."

"Hey, guys!" Meowth suddenly yelled at the others. "I's just got's a call from da boss. He's said that we's ta meet him at the Vermilion City harbor and not da base."

The two humans both looked down at Meowth in confusion.

"Did he say why?" James asked.

"Nah, but it sounds like we's taken a trip somewhere's. He didn't say where we's goin' though."

"Well then, I guess we're going to Vermilion City." Jessie sighed. "Hey, does anyone know what ever happened to our old balloon?"

"I'd completely forgotten about that." James said wistfully. "I don't think I've seen in since after that time we tried to steal all of those Pikachu back in Viridian City."

"I's think's dat we's left it in Saffron after we's got's promoted." Meowth explained. "What wid all dat stuff that went down afta that, we's didn't really needs it for a while's anyway."

"It would be nice to have it right now, though." Jessie moaned. "I do not want to have to walk all that way to get there."

"I'm sure's we can find's anotha wat ta get dere. We's resourceful, after all."


	94. Chapter 94

"Hey guys!" Kat said as she walked into the hotel lobby of the Fuchsia City Pallet House, where the others were waiting. She ran over to the couch where Mal, Ciel and Sue where holding a conversation about something. Gary stayed by the entrance, looking around absently.

Gary was starting to feel like he was missing something in his Pokémon journey. While being able to ride around the Kanto region in his dad's car with the girls was more convenient than walking aimlessly, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing out on the experience that traveling on his own would bring. The only one of his chaperones that offered any real help to him was Kat, but she only rarely gave him any advice and he was more interested in figuring things out on his own anyway. And even if he did regularly stop to train and catch new Pokémon, it was still probably less than if he were hiking through the forests and caves of the region by foot. It was with these thoughts that Gary looked over at the girls and made a decision. The four who were supposed to keep watch over him and make sure that he didn't get into trouble were too wrapped up in their discussion to notice their charge turn around and walk out.

Gary hesitated just outside of the door, having second thoughts about his decision. But after a moment he tightened his fists and continued walking. He did not know the layout of the city, but he was going to find the Gym, even if it took him all day. When he returned to the hotel that evening he would have his eighth badge. Or maybe he wouldn't return at all. Maybe he would just keep going, making his way to the Indigo Plateau and challenging any more Gyms that he found along the way. He could do it. He was a Pokémon Trainer, one that was determined to be the best that there ever was. And more than that, he was an Oak. He was part of the longest line of Pokémon Masters that the region had ever known. There were even rumors that the Oak family was descended from the ancient kings of the Kanto region.

Gary chose a direction and started walking, sure that his trainer's instincts would lead him directly to where he wanted to go. It was in his blood, after all, to seek out challenge and overcome any obstacle. After having walked about two blocks south, he started to hear something. It was faint and he could barely make it out, but it sounded almost like a woman singing off in the distance. He felt enthralled by the song and his feet instinctively pulled him forward, closer to the source of the distant sound.

* * *

"Alright, that didn't take as long as I thought it would." Carmine said, looking approvingly at Ash's Fearow. "Your Pokémon is certainly a fast learner. Now I think we should move on to your Sandslash. He should be good with both attack and defense, so I'm going to focus on increasing the type diversity of his moveset. Brick Break, Poison Jab, Shadow Claw, Iron Tail and X-Scissor all seem like good moves. It probably won't take much time for him to learn them, though, so let's work on your Kingler as well. Save time by training both together. I'm going to teach him Brick Break and X-Scissor, like Sandslash, and also a few different moves. Ice Beam, Rock Tomb and Rain Dance all seem like good choices as well as False Swipe."

"What's that?" Ash asked him.

"False Swipe is a fairly standard Normal-type move but with one little quirk. It can't actually knock out an opponent." Carmine explained.

"That sounds useless."

"In competitive battling, it is more or less pointless unless you just want to taunt your opponent for some reason. The main utility of the move is for catching wild Pokémon. Since all kinds of Pokéball can only work if the target Pokémon is conscious, but also work better the more weakened the opponent is, False Swipe can make it a lot easier to catch Pokémon that you might otherwise have trouble with."

"Okay, I guess that does sound useful." Ash agreed. "Alright, let's get started then."

"Good." Carmine nodded. "And then once we've finished training these two we can move on to your Gastly. I'm a little less certain of what to teach that one since I don't really know what he already has, but if we're lucky we'll be done by nightfall, just in time to head back and get dinner and some sleep before heading home for your birthday tomorrow."

* * *

"I think I see Fuchsia City!" Daisy said, holding her hand above her eyes to block out the sunlight as the city came into view.

"Well it's about time." Giselle said. "I feel like we've been walking for weeks and basically nothing's happened."

"It's only been a few hours." Daisy pointed out. "And we did get to fight a few wild Pokémon on the way."

"You know, when I decided that I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, I didn't think that there would be so much mindless walking involved. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should have stayed at Pokétech after all."

"But I thought that you said that barely anyone from there ever managed to get into the Pokémon League."

"That's true." Giselle relented. "But I could have still been one of the few to actually do it. At least when I was there I could spend every day training rather than just this endless walking. My feet are killing me."

"Again, we've only been walking a few hours." Daisy said.

"The fact that you can say that its 'only' been a few hours just shows how much time gets wasted just getting from one worthless place to another. Let's just keep going so that we can get there and take a break. I don't know how much longer I can last at this rate."

* * *

Before Gary knew it, he had found himself walking out onto the shore on Route 19, just south of Fuchsia City. This was definitely not the way to get to the Gym, but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this was the way that he needed to go. He could still hear the singing, which was clearer now and a little louder than it was before. Gary was sure that he was moving closer to its source and that he would soon be able to make out the words of the song. He made his way along the narrow beach, wedged between two rocky cliffs, and passed by a pair of swimmers warming up for a long trip across the calm ocean. It was clear that this beach was not one of the more popular of the Kanto shore, which was probably due to its small size. But Gary wasn't really thinking about that as he reached the edge of the deep blue water, where it beat across the shore.

He looked out at the massive rocks that were sticking out of the water in the distance, likely another reason why few people used this beach for recreation. One rock stood out to him in particular and he thought that he could see something, or perhaps someone, sitting on top of it. He was sure that whatever it was, it was the source of the song. He closed his eyes and listened for a moment. He felt at peace listening to the serein melody but was quickly pulled back to reality as he felt the cold water rise up to his ankles. He tried to take a step back but found that he couldn't move his feet. It was almost as if the ocean itself was holding him in place. He struggled against it, but it was no use. The water rose up to his knees. Desperately, Gary let out a scream as he tried his hardest to break free, but it was too late. A sudden wave washed over him and he was dragged out to sea.

The two swimmers had heard his scream, but when they ran out to where he had been there was no sign of Gary. It was as if he had never even been there.


	95. Chapter 95

A storm raged across the northern Sevii Islands. The winds howled as they ripped through the air, interrupted only by the sound of the booming thunder brought on by the lightning that illuminated the black sky. Rain fell down so hard that it was almost as if the ocean stretched up to clouds. On a small island in the middle of this ferocious maelstrom, a lone Pikachu sat meditating on a large rock, completely unfazed by the storm. Pikoa didn't move a single muscle, even as a bolt of lightning came down directly upon him, the blast of searing hot plasma blackened the rock that he sat on and burned up all of the plant life that grew on the tiny island. It was not until the storm had passed that Pikoa finally gave any sort of indication that he was even alive. His blue-tipped ears twitched suddenly and he sniffed the air before opening his eyes.

"Something's wrong." He said to himself. "There's something stirring under the ocean. Something that I haven't felt in a very long time. But I can't seem to remember what it is. What could this mean? And who am I talking to? No matter. It looks like it's time to investigate."

Pikoa stood up slowly and stretched. He looked around at the scorched island he was on and felt a twinge of sadness. He had thought that the island had looked rather charming in a quaint sort of way, but now it was little more than a burnt heap of rock and soot. He sighed and pressed the thought to the back of his mind as he walked over to the edge of the island and dove head-first into the sea. He moved through the water quickly and after a few seconds, the island was no longer in view as he swam into the deepest depths of the ocean to find what it was that had felt.

* * *

"Finally!" Giselle sighed in relief as she and Daisy finally reached the outskirts of Fuchsia City. "We're going straight to a hotel."

"But what about the Gym?" Daisy asked.

"The Gym will still be there tomorrow." Giselle said. "I need my beauty sleep."

"Yeah, I suppose you would." Daisy said mockingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Daisy pointed to a large building up ahead. "That looks like a Pallet House. We can go there."

"You don't need to tell me twice."

Giselle quickened her pace as she headed towards the hotel, forcing Daisy to go keep up with her. After a moment they reached their destination and went inside. Giselle darted straight for an empty couch off on one side of the lobby, while Daisy looked around and found an unexpected familiar face.

"Kat?" She asked as she walked over to her cousin and three other women that she recognized.

"Yes?" Katherine Oak turned around to see who addressed her and her eyes lit up as she saw Daisy. "Oh, hey! What's up?"

"Not much." Daisy answered. "So does this mean that my brother's here, too?"

"Yeah, he's right…" Kat trailed off as she looked around. "Wait, where is Gary?"

"I thought he was right behind you when you came in." Mal chimed in.

"He was." Concern was evident in Kat's voice. "Don't tell me he ran off."

"It looks like he must have run off." Said Ciel.

"It told you not to tell me that. Now come on, we need to find him before he gets into any trouble."

"I'll help." Daisy said.

"Good, we'll need all the help we can get to find that kid."

Kat, Mal, Ciel and Sue all headed towards the front door while Daisy made her way to the couch that Giselle was now lying face down on.

"Hey, I'm going to head out for a bit." She told her.

"Yeah, whatever." Giselle grumbled back. "Just make sure to check in before you go so that I can sleep in an actual bed."

* * *

Red sat on a small couch in the Pokémon Center, reading a magazine that had been laying on the table in front of him. Yellow was leaning up against him, taking a nap and Sable was sitting in a chair on the other side of the table. She had her eyes closed and looked like she was trying to concentrate on something. After a moment she stood up.

"I need to go." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay." Red said without looking up from the article about the spot patterns of Paras and Parasect's mushrooms that he was reading. He had known Sable for only a day and yet he had already become used to this behavior from her.

Sable walked out of the Pokémon Center without another word, leaving Red to read in quite. After he had finished skimming through the magazine he tossed it lightly back onto the table and leaned back in his seat, not wanting to get up and disturb Yellow's sleep. He was surprised that she would be so tired considering that they had just woken up on the beach not long ago, but didn't really think much of it.

After a while, Red himself was close to drifting off to sleep when he heard the Pokémon Center's front door slide open and he looked over to see Bill walk in.

"Hey, guys." Bill said as he saw Red and Yellow and headed over to them. "I'm sorry that took so long."

"It's fine." Red said, nudging his arm gently against Yellow, who stirred from her nap. "I'm actually surprised that you got here as fast as you did. I was looking at the map over on the wall there and noticed that we're practically on the other side of the region from Celadon right now."

Bill shrugged. "I know a guy that knows a Kadabra. Anyway, how did you get here?"

"We still don't know exactly what happened." Red started to explain.

"Hi, Bill!" Yellow said excitedly as she woke up enough to be aware of her surroundings. She jumped off of the couch and rushed over to Bill, showing him to the chair that Sable had been sitting in earlier.

"Hey, Yellow." Bill greeted her as he sat down in the chair and Yellow walked back to the seat next to Red. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Wait a minute, what happened to Sabubble?" Yellow asked, suddenly realizing that their other companion was missing.

"It's Sable." Red corrected her. "She said she had to go. I'm sure she'll be back. Probably."

"Sable?" Bill asked. "That's the person that was with you when you called, right? Who is she?"

"I don't really know." Red answered honestly. "She just decided to follow us when we were heading out from Lavender Town, saying that she was bored or something. She tends to come and go at a moment's notice. Anyway, I guess we should explain what we know about what happened this morning."

* * *

Sable stood atop one of the tallest buildings in Porta Vista, looking out towards the sea. She had just felt a dark disturbance out there, but she remained unsure of what it was or what it meant. With a swish of her hand, Pikachu suddenly appeared in the air next to her and fell on her back onto the building's roof.

"I'm so sick of being teleported around without any warning!" Pikachu yelled.

"You know, if you practiced you could probably Teleport yourself. You should have enough Psychic power for that, at least."

"I'd rather move around the traditional way." Pikachu said as she rolled onto her feet. "What do you want, anyway? I was already at the edge of town."

"I wanted to know if you felt it."

"Felt what?" Pikachu asked.

"No, I guess you wouldn't have." Sable sighed. "You're latent talents aren't quite developed enough yet."

"I mean, I did get sort of a cold chill running down my spine for a second a moment ago. Is that what you're talking about?"

"I suppose it probably was. I'm not really sure what it was that sent that wave of psychic energy, however. It's not like anything that I have ever felt before."

"Yep, I'm sure that you've probably felt just about everything considering how long you've been around." Pikachu said teasingly.

"Jokes about my age will get you nowhere." Sable said indignantly.


	96. Chapter 96

"Gary!" Daisy cried out as she ran through the city, looking for her brother. She and the others had decided to split up so that they would have a better chance of finding him. Mal had taken the car and was driving through the city looking for him along the major roads while Ciel headed to the Fuchsia Gym, Kat searched the city from overhead on the back of her Charizard and Sue headed towards the Safari Zone to see if he had gone back there for some reason. This left Daisy to check the south, heading towards Route 19. "Gary, where are you!"

Daisy quickly reached the city limits and the stepped out onto Route 19 without any signs that her brother had gone that way. She cried out his name one more before she turned to head back. Just as she started to turn, however, she noticed to men in swim trunks running up to her.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't have happened to have seen a boy my age come this way, have you?" She asked them as they got closer.

The two men caught up to her and stopped running. They acted like they were out of breath and looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"Did he have spiky brown hair and was wearing a purple shirt?" One of the men asked with a surprising amount of concern.

"That would be him." Daisy sighed with relief. "So he is this way, then?"

The two men glanced at each other before turning back to Daisy. "We saw him walk by while we were doing our pre-swim stretching exercises." One of them explained. "A moment later we heard a scream coming from the direction he had gone, but when we ran over to investigate there was no one there. It's like he simply vanished. We were running to get help just now when we ran into you."

The color drained out of Daisy's face and she nearly dropped the baby Cleffa that she held in her arms. "What?"

"We don't know what happened." The other man said. "We've never seen anything like this happen before. We were hoping that Master Koga would have some idea of what to do. If you want you can come with as to ask him for help."

"N-no." Daisy stammered. "You go, I'm going to see if I can find any sign of where he went. I know my brother, so I might be able to find something, anything."

"Alright." The two men nodded. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

And with that the two men ran back into town, leaving Daisy to slowly walk to the shore, barely paying attention to her surroundings as she went.

"Gary." She whispered so quietly that she barely made a sound. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

* * *

"Okay, I think that should be good for now." Carmine said to Ash. "I'm amazed out how fast your Pokémon are able to learn. That's a sign of having a good trainer."

"Thank you." Ash said, a little embarrassed by the compliment. "But you're the one training them."

"True. But Pokémon form a unique bond with their trainers. You're Pokémon's ability to learn and grow serves as a reflection of your own skill and talent. As you grow, so do your Pokémon and as your Pokémon grow, so do you. At this point I don't think you even need me around anymore. Not that your mother would let you go off by yourself." Carmine let out a chuckle.

"Did I ever really need you?" Ash asked jokingly.

"Probably not. But then again you might have gotten in over your head with Team Rocket. Of course, on the other hand, you might not have gotten as involved with Team Rocket if I wasn't around. My presence might have actually made things more dangerous for you and it's too late for me leaving to change that. Giovanni will have a target over your head at this point."

"And who do we have to thank for that?"

"In my defense, I never asked to accompany you on this journey. I've never been the kind of person most people would let take care of their kids and there's a perfectly good reason for that."

"Well, what's in the past is in the past, I suppose." Ash shrugged. "All we can do now is look forward. Speaking of which, it's time to move on to training Gastly."

"No, I don't believe that will be necessary." Ash and Carmine both jumped at the unexpected appearance of Ash's Gastly, who had left his Pokéball on his own and was now floating in the air between them. "I am hundreds of years older than either of you will ever be. I think that alone should be enough to mean that I have no need for your silly training."

"You say that now, but considering you're that old and you're still at your base level I'd say that you definitely need training." Carmine pointed out.

"He's got you there." Ash agreed.

"What?" Gastly almost seemed to blush before turning away from them. "How dare you? Don't you humans know that you should respect your elders?"

"Only if they deserve that respect." Carmine said. "Now come on, what harm would learning a few moves do?"

"Well, they do say that you can't teach an old Arcanine new tricks." Ash pointed out. "So I guess Gastly must just be too old to learn anything new."

"Wha- HOW DARE YOU!" Gastly turned back to Ash and inflated himself to three times his normal size and then turned to face Carmine. "That's it, human, teach me your foolish tricks! I will be able to put them to more use than you could ever dream of!"

"Now that's what I like to hear. Now then, what to teach you. I'm thinking Toxic, Trick Room and Taunt. How about you, Ash? Anything that you can think of to add?"

"Double Team?" Ash suggested.

"Sounds good. Alright, Mister I'm-too-old-for-this-kind-of-thing, let's get this started."

"Why did I even agree to come with you, again?" Gastly sighed.

* * *

When Gary regained consciousness, he found himself in some kind of dark cavern. He looked around and blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and his surroundings came into focus. He saw a pool of water over to his side and a Pokémon sitting on the edge of it that dove out of view as soon as he spotted it.

"Was that a Dewgong?" Gary muttered to himself. "No, they have white tails, not blue. And they certainly don't have hair. What was that thing, a mermaid?"

Gary sat up slowly. His entire body ached as if he had been run over by a Rhyhorn. The way leading to the water appeared to be a dead end while in the opposite direction the cavern seemed to become a tunnel, though he had no idea where it would lead. Not seeing any other options, Gary got up and walked down the tunnel, feeling his way along the wall because it was too see very far. After making his way a few yards it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't need to fumble around in the dark. Gary grabbed one of the Pokéballs along his belt and let out his Growlithe.

"Okay, boy. I need you to light up this tunnel for me so that we can find our way out of this place." He told his Pokémon.

Growlithe let out a small flame from its mouth, lighting up the darkness like he had back in the House of Amity. With the fire now illuminating the path, Gary could now see that the rocky cavern he was in lead to what appeared to be an ornate stone hallway of some sort.

"What is this place?" Gary wondered aloud as he looked at the ancient white pillars that lined the hallway. Their design seemed to date the architecture thousands of years old. "Where in the world are we? And why does this place seem so familiar."

Gary and his Growlithe walked down the ancient tunnel and further into the darkness with only Growlithe's flame to light up the path before them. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, they reached the end of the hallway, which led to the entranceway into a large chamber, on the other side of which was a large stone statue that felt all too familiar to Gary.

"Wait a minute..." Gary muttered to himself. "Isn't this… This is the place from my dream!"


	97. Chapter 97

"I'm getting tired." Charmander whined. "It feels like we've been walking forever."

"Oh, come on. It's only been a few hours." Squirtle pointed out. "And we should be nearly there anyway."

"Should be?" Charmander moaned.

The group of Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Zoroark continued on their way to Cerulean City in relative silence until Bulbasaur decided to chip in.

"It probably would be a good idea for us to take a break. Especially since you two spent practically all night training. It's only natural that you should be feeling fatigued after all this."

"Time waits for no 'mon!" Squirtle stopped walking and pointed dramatically into the air.

"Well who made you leader?" Bulbasaur asked sarcastically.

"I did!" Squirtle proclaimed, apparently ignoring the sarcasm.

"You're not our leader." Bulbasaur said. "I'm much more qualified than you are, since I used to care for all of the Pokémon back at the Hidden Village."

"You seem to forget that I used to be the leader of the Squirtle Squad. I'd say that makes me more qualified."

"Don't be ridicules. Besides, Charmander's the reason we're all together to begin with, so if anything he should lead us."

"Yeah!" Charmander agreed.

Squirtle laughed. "But it was my idea for us to challenge the Gyms, so I should be leader."

"What about Zoroark?" Bulbasaur added. "Since she's the one masquerading as our trainer, maybe she should be our leader."

"Don't drag me into this." Said Zoroark.

"Can we talk about this later?" Asked Charmander. "I just want to take a nap."

"Oh, fine." Squirtle relented.

* * *

"Well you two have certainly had an interesting time." Bill said after Red and Yellow finished telling him about all of their adventures since they first met him back at his lighthouse, which felt like it had been a long time ago. "I'm afraid that I haven't had nearly as an exciting time as you have. But I did have quite the eventful day today."

"Really?" Red asked quizzically. "What could have happened to you since we saw you this morning?"

"Well, after you left the Pokémon Center I went back to trying to find out what was wrong with PC there. As it turned out, a couple of Porygon had somehow managed to find its way into the system and they had taken up residence there, which is what was causing the problems. My fiddling around trying to find out what was wrong woke the Porygon up and made one of them angry, which then somehow managed to zap me into the computer as well."

"Whoa!" Yellow gasped in amazement. And then what happened?"

"Well, it took me a while to get the hand of being in cyber space. Before now I didn't even know it was possible for anything other than a Porygon to even exist in data from like that. In fact, I'm still not sure who it really happened. Anyway, so the other Porygon turned out to be quite friendly and helped me get my bearings straight and then track down the first one to try and get it under control. I ended up managing to hack into some code to catch both of the Porygon in digitalized Pokéballs and then had them bring me back into the physical world. It was right after that when the nurse there at the Pokémon Center told me that I had an incoming call, which turned out to be from you guys."

"Do you still have the Porygon?" An intrigued Red asked.

"Yeah, right here." Bill pulled out two Pokéballs and held them up. "I was going to give them to the Rocket Game Corner, since they give them out as prizes there and these two probably escaped from there anyway. But if what you said about Team Rocket being behind them, then I definitely don't want to be handing these two off to them. And it does make sense that Team Rocket would be in control of the Rocket Game Corner. It's right in the name and everything."

"So what _are_ you going to do with them?"

"Well, I guess I'll keep the friendly one for myself to help with my studies. I'm not sure about the other one, though. It probably won't listen to a word I tell it. Then again, I suppose you can have it if you want. You should have enough badges by this point that it will listen to you."

"Really?" Red asked.

"Of course." Bill held out one of the Pokéballs to Red, who accepted it graciously. "What are friends for, after all?"

"Thank you. I'll try to keep good care of him."

"That's all I can ask for. By the way, we should probably go to the local Department of Pokémon Training before they close up for the day, so that we can go get that Trainer's Permit for Yellow."

"I'd forget all about that." Red said as he put Porygon's Pokéball with his others. "Let's get going."

* * *

Gary looked up at the imposing statue that stood before him. He knew that he had never seen this statue or the man that it depicted before and yet it was so familiar to him. This was definitely the statue from his dream, but how? And Why? His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the torches hung up on the walls and support pillars scattered around the room suddenly lit up, engulfing the room in their light.

"What's going on?" Gary asked, though he knew he would get no answer. His Growlithe stopped breathing fire since there was no need for it now and brushed up against Gary's leg, whimpering loudly. Gary bent down to his knees and put his hand reassuringly on the Puppy Pokémon's back. "It'll be okay, boy. I'll make sure that nothing happens to you."

Gary recalled Growlithe into his Pokéball and stood back up, staring at the statue again. It depicted a large, intimidating man with a thick beard sitting in a massive throne. He wore old fashioned robes and a hat with a beaded necklace hanging around the color of the robes. His right hand rested on his knee while the left hand held a staff of some kind.

"Why does this guy look so familiar?" Gary wondered. After staring at the statue for a little longer he turned around to head back the way he came, hoping to find some sort of exit that he had missed earlier. However, as soon as he turned around, his attention was drawn to a huge mural painted across the wall above the exit.

The brightly painted image contrasted heavily with the dull brown of everything else in the room, making it stand out even more than it would have. An image of a bird Pokémon shrouded in rainbows looked down from the clouded heavens upon a stormy see, underneath which was a silver bird looking back up at the rainbow one. The two looked as if they were somehow locked in combat even though there was nothing in the mural to suggest they were even fighting.

"What is this place?" Gary asked again. After a moment he looked back down to the entranceway and started moving forward. He knew that he needed to flee this place as soon as possible and walked as quickly as he could. Just as he reached the exit, however, he suddenly found himself pulled away from it by some invisible force, pushing him back into the large chamber. He tried to leave again, more desperately this time, but again he was pulled back into the chamber. Gary then turned back to the statue and yelled. "What do you want from me?"

Gary suddenly found his attention shifted to the small throne sitting between the large stone feet of the statue. It was as if the mysterious force keeping him there was telling him to sit down on the seat of the throne.

"No!" Gary shouted. "I'm not doing it!"

Gary started walking towards the throne, against his will. His legs were somehow moving of their own accord.

"I don't want to sit down!"

Gary started walking faster. He tried to stop but it was no use.

"Nidoqueen! Smash that chair!"

Nidoqueen's Pokéball lit up as if she was emerging from it, but nothing happened. Whatever force was dragging him to the stone throne was also preventing his Pokémon from leaving there Pokéballs. Gary had seen this kind of reaction once before, back at the Lavender Tower.

"There's a ghost here." He muttered in horror as he stepped in front of the throne. "That's what's doing this."


	98. Chapter 98

Daisy fell to her knees on the warm sand, trying her best not to break into tears. There was no sign of Gary anywhere. Her brother had simply disappeared and there was nothing that she could do about it. Cleffa looked up at Daisy from her arms. The baby could sense that there was something wrong, but did not know what it could be. She reached up with one stubby arm and touched Daisy's cheek, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Cle, Cle!" Cleffa trilled at her.

Daisy sighed and got back to her feet. There was no way she could stay worried, with that adorable face smiling at her, though she still had lingering doubts. What could possibly have happened to Gary? Why would he come out here in the first place?

She looked out across the ocean's waves, in the vain hope of finding something out there. Her gaze settled on a rock in the distance. There was something strange about it. At first, she couldn't tell what it was, but then she realized. There was a Pokémon resting on top of it. It was too far away to make out clearly, so she couldn't tell what kind of Pokémon it was, but she could see it moving around. Daisy started to hear singing coming from the distance, in the direction of the Pokémon. It was nice, soothing. It seemed to make her forget all of her worries and if she could just get closer to it…

"Cle! Cle! Cle!"

Daisy was snapped back to her senses by Cleffa's screams, knee deep in the water. She quickly turned around and ran back to the dry sand and fast as she could. Was she walking into the water? Why would she do that? As she thought, the song drifted back into her ears and everything started to fade away again, but she was able to keep herself focused enough not to fall into its allure again.

It was then that Daisy remembered an old story she had heard when she was younger, told to her by a relative of her grandfather who would stop by every once in a while to check up on the family. It was a story of how sailors would hear the enchanting songs of a rare Pokémon that would lure them into crashing their ships. But the Pokémon from the old story wasn't one that was native to the area. There shouldn't be any of them within hundreds of miles. Yet there was no other explanation that she could think of.

"I need to get Kat." Daisy said as she ran away from the beach. Whatever was going on was more than she could handle on her own, but her cousin was much more experienced than she was and one of the top trainers in the region. Surely she would be able to help.

* * *

"Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Carmine asked.

"I cannot say that battling is something that I care for." Gastly said solemnly in response. "However I did promise young Ash here that I would help him in Pokémon Journey and I am a Pokémon of my word. If this is what it takes to honor that promise, then I suppose that it will do. A single human's lifetime is but a moment for an immortal ghost, after all, so in the grand scheme of things this is only a minor inconvenience for me. Although I must say, I do feel a little strange."

Gastly's eyes suddenly widened as he began to glow. Ash and Carmine both had to look away as the glow got brighter and brighter. The purple fog surrounding Gastly retracted into him and his spherical body grew out onto a spikey, vaguely triangular shape. In a flash of light, the evolution was complete and Gastly had become a Haunter.

It took him a moment to process what had just happened, as he stared blankly down at his newly-formed hands, which floated in the air in front of him, detached from his body. After a few seconds, it finally sunk in.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Bill walked into the Department of Pokémon Training and held the door open for Red and Yellow to follow him in. There were a few people waiting around for their turn to go up to counter, but otherwise it was fairly empty inside.

"Well, here we are. Now we just need to take a number and wait until we're called for." Bill explained to Red and Yellow. "Hopefully it won't be long of a wait."

"I got a 59." Yellow said, holding up the ticket she had just grabbed.

"Okay then. And according to the sign they just called for… 42… We might be here a while."

"There aren't even that many people here." Red pointed out, looking around.

"Yes, that happens sometimes. I'm not really sure why. I guess we'll just have to wait it out."

"43!" Someone shouted out from the other end of the room. "I can help number 43 over here!"

"Perhaps we should have tried getting here earlier." Bill sighed.

"What's done is done." Red said as the three walked over to a row of chairs to sit down. "We just have to live in the now. Or something like that, anyway."

* * *

"What are these?" Haunter shouted after he had finally stopped screaming his proverbial lungs out. "Fingers? What do I need fingers for? I'm a ghost that can levitate! And where is my gaseous cloud? I'm I really just a body with no fog anymore?"

"Well, to be fair, it looks like you're probably still made out of some kind of gas." Ash tried to cheer his Pokémon up.

"Am I really supposed to feel comforted by those words?" Haunter cried melodramatically. "I just feel so, so, restrained by this new form. Surely this couldn't possibly be any better than what I was before, what I have always been." Haunter rested one hand against his face and looked up at the sky, sighing dramatically. "Oh, woe is me, that I might never be able to engulf some unsuspecting wanderer into my fiendishly elaborate and fantastical illusions again."

"You know, you're really overselling it." Ash said.

"How can I possibly be 'overselling it'? Do you have any idea how much I have lost? Within the span of a few seconds, I have shed the form that I have cast for countless millennia for this lesser state of being."

"Well, you just evolved, so this form should actually be stronger than your old one."

"But at what cost? I am no longer the same being that I have always been since the days before your civilization was even dreamt of. I can no longer even be called by the same name that I have been known as since time immemorial."

"Do you mean the name that you shared with literally every other member of your species?"

Gastly sighed. "Of course a human like you would not understand not things, with your obsession with having every individual with their name as if you were all completely different creatures altogether. Speaking of which, where did the other go?"

"You mean Carmine?" Ash asked. "He said that he wasn't going to put up with this nonsense and left while you were still screaming." He checked his watch. "Which would have been about five minutes ago."

"Hmm… perhaps I am overreacting a bit."

"That's what I've been saying this entire time." Ash pointed out.

"Fine, then. I suppose I will just go back to my Pokéball and think things over on my own. Perhaps there is some sort of advantage to this new form that I simply haven't thought of yet."

"Like the fact that you can punch things now?"

"Don't go giving me any ideas. For now, I take my leave."

Haunter flew behind Ash and reentered his Pokéball, leaving Ash standing alone in the middle of the Pokémon League stadium. He walked over to a bench sitting at the side of the arena, took his backpack off and lay down on the bench. He looked up at the bright blue sky, punctuated only by a few white clouds, and started thinking about his life. It felt like it had been forever since he set out from Pallet Town. His dream had always been to go on a Pokémon Journey and become a Pokémon Master, to be the best like no one ever was. And now he was here, in the Pokémon League. He may not have had all eight badges that he would need to actually compete in the League yet and would soon go back to his journey. But that did not change the fact that right here and right now, he was at the stadium where it all happened. Where the greatest trainers in the Kanto and Johto regions would fight every year to find out who was truly worthy of being the Champion.

"Someday." Ash whispered under his breath. "Someday it'll be me."


	99. Chapter 99

"59! I can help number 59!"

Red almost missed the fact that their number had finally been called. He, Bill and Yellow all stood up from their chairs and walked over to the counter across from the person who had called their number.

"What can I help you with?" The worker asked with a false smile that did not mask her boredom.

"We'd like to apply for a Trainer's Permit for this girl." Bill said, gesturing towards Yellow.

"Alright then, may I see the paperwork?"

Bill slapped a hand to his forehead. "I forgot that we needed to do that."

"No problem." The woman sighed as she pulled a blank form from a shelf under her desk. "You can fill it out now."

Bill took the form from her and placed it on the counter in front of them, then picked up a pen that was sitting to the side. Red picked Yellow up off the ground so that she could see the form and Bill handed her the pen.

"You'll need to fill this out yourself." Bill explained to Yellow. "But we can help you if you don't know what everything means."

"Okay!" Yellow said as she looked down at the paper. She checked the first box that she needed to fill out on it and froze. "My name…"

Red and Bill glanced at each other and then down at Yellow. Or rather, at the girl that they called Yellow but whose true identity remained a mystery to everyone including her.

"This may take longer than we thought." Bill muttered.

The woman sighed and picked up an empty clipboard, which she handed to them. "Take your time, it's not like you're keeping anyone else waiting." She said sarcastically.

* * *

"I'm growing very impatient." Giovanni remarked as he stood on the small boat that Team Rocket had docked at the Vermilion Harbor. "We're finally here and almost ready to go, but now we still have to wait for those three to show up. What could be taking them so long?"

"To be fair, they do have to make their way all the way here from Cerulean City. It's not exactly a short trip." Mallory pointed out. "We could just leave without them."

"No. I want to see what it is that they found. I have a feeling that it's something very important."

"You could just have them take another boat to meet us there."

"No. I want to draw as little attention to this little trip as possible. This will be the only boat heading out there for now. They also can't use Teleport to get straight here since they don't have a Pokémon of their own that can use it and it could draw attention if they were to meet up with someone else who could teleport them here."

"Yes, and I'm sure that _that_ won't draw anyone's attention at all." Mallory said dryly as she pointed to something off in the distance. Giovanni looked over in the direction that she was pointing and his jaw dropped.

"I'm going to have to have to talk to them about what qualifies as stealth." Giovanni muttered.

A moment later, Giovanni and Mallory had to brace themselves as a large orange blur leapt onto the boat at blinding speed. The entire boat shook at the impact as the Arcanine touched down on its deck. The trio of James, Jessie and Meowth holding tight to its back for dear life. After a few seconds, they climbed off of it and stepped onto the boat.

"Good job, Growlie." James said as he patted his oldest Pokémon on the back. "Now it's time for you to go back into your Pokéball.

"I still can't believe that's they let's you take that's thing back from you's home when you's two's was goin' though ya's trainin'." Meowth said as James recalled the Fire-type.

"Enough chatter." Giovanni snapped. "We're leaving. Now!"

* * *

"Dr. Sallow said that he put 'Yellow' on the hospital paperwork back when we first found her and that can be counted as her name until we find out who she really is." Red put down the Pokégear that he had just used to call the doctor and handed it back to Bill. "And I'm registered as her temporary guardian until then as well, which means we can use my information for some of this."

"Well, hopefully we won't have any other snags." Bill said, scanning the rest of the form as Yellow wrote down her 'name'.

They finished filling out the form and when they were done, Yellow handed it up to Red, who passed it on to the DPT worker.

"It looks like this is all in order." She said, barely giving the paperwork a glance. "Now you just need to go to the corner over there and they'll take your picture, then give you your card."

Yellow, Red and Bill walked over to where the woman had pointed, where a man was standing with a camera. He took Yellow's picture like the woman said and hooked it up to a computer. A moment later he printed off Yellow's new Trainer's Permit.

"Wow!" Yellow gasped as she held up the card.

"So this means that you can legally own your own Pokémon." Bill explained as they walked back to the exit. "So they Pokémon that you already have will officially be yours rather than Red's. You could also take part in Pokémon battles if you wanted to, though only if Red is with you and you can't enter into official tournaments or the like."

"So does this mean that I'm a Pokémon Trainer, like you?" Yellow asked Red.

"I guess so." Red said, opening the door so that they could leave.

"In a manner of speaking. You're not a full-fledged Pokémon Trainer yet, but you are pretty close." Bill clarified.

"That's so cool!" Yellow said excitedly. "But now what?"

All three stopped walking.

"I don't really know." Red thought for a moment. "Is there a Gym here?"

"I think so." Bill said. "I seem to recall hearing something about a Flying-type Gym being in Porta Vista, but I have no idea where it actually is or who the Gym Leader is. In fact, it might not have even been the Flying-type Gym. Or Porta Vista, for that matter."

"So basically you have no idea." Red summarized.

"I wish I could be a bit more help with this, but I've never really been that interested in the League. I'm more curious about Pokémon themselves than fighting."

"It's fine. I'm sure that we'll find something to d-"

" **ATTENTION! PEOPLE OF PORTA VISTA!"** Red was suddenly cut off by someone yelling into a loudspeaker somewhere nearby. The sound was deafening. **"FOR FAR TOO LONG WE HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH THIS MENACE! BUT NO MORE!"**

"Well, it looks like we just found something to occupy our time." Red said, though the others couldn't hear him over the loudspeaker.

" **I, NASTINA, HAVE BEEN TRYING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE HERE IN PORTA VISTA, FOR THE GOOD OF ALL, BY CONSTRUCTING AN OFFSHORE THEME PARK AND HOTEL THAT WILL BENEFIT EVERYONE, LOCALS AND TOURISTS ALIKE! BUT UNFORTUNATELY, NOT EVERYONE SEEMS TO FEEL THIS WAY AS SOMEONE HAS BEEN TRYING TO SABOTAGE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS GLORIOUS PARK, AS PART OF SOME NEFARIOUS SCHEME, NO DOUBT. AS SUCH I AM HERE TO ANNOUNCE A ONE-MILLION POKé REWARD FOR THE CAPTURE OF THE NO-GOOD MISCREANT WHO'S TRYING TO RUIN THINGS FOR ALL OF YOU, THE GOOD PEOPLE OF PORTA VISTA!"**

"Well, this can only end well." Red remarked sarcastically once the announcement had finished.

"Does anyone else here a lot of booing off in the distance?" Bill asked.

"I can't really hear much of anything right now." Yellow replied, clutching her ears tightly.

"I have a feeling that whoever was just talking isn't exactly a popular figure." Said Red. "And I think that I understand why. Even just hearing her voice made it obvious that she's not a very good person and what kind of a name is 'Nastina'?"

"I HEARD THAT, YA NO-GOOD WHIPPER-SNAPPER!" A familiar voice suddenly shouted from behind Red. "KIDS THESE DAYS JUST HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS, DO YA? INSULTING THE GOOD NAME OF MY DEAR COUSIN NASTINA WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN MET HER BEFORE! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, GOING ON LIKE THAT?"


	100. Chapter 100

Gary sat on the mysterious throne in the dark chamber he was trapped in, forced into it by an unseen force that Gary was sure was a ghost of some kind. He tried his hardest to stand back up and get away from the throne, but no matter how hard he tried, he no longer had any control over his body. He let out a scream in the vain hope that somebody, anybody, would be able to come to his rescue. But he knew that it was pointless.

" **Quite, boy."** A deep, gravelly voice echoed throughout the chamber. **"There is no use in fighting it. You are mine now and I shall do with you as I please. You have no say in the matter."**

Gary tried to say something in reply, but terror struck as he found that he could no longer even open his mouth. The ghost that was controlling him now had him completely at its mercy.

" **This land has fallen far in my absence."** The voice continued. **"It is time for me to return and set things right, restoring the power of this nation and bringing the land into a new golden age. And your body shall serve as the perfect vessel for me to use to return to the mortal realm. That is why I had my servant bring you here, because this is your destiny, child, and it always has been."**

Gary had never known fear like what he felt now. It was an overwhelming sensation that overwrote all logical thought. He would have broken down crying if he still had even that much control over himself. All he could do was sit there and listen as the voice declared how it would use him. He silently prayed for something to free him from this nightmare and that prayer was soon answered.

The wall to Gary's left suddenly burst open, leaving a gaping hole leading straight into the ocean. Water started filling the chamber, but not nearly as fast as it should have. Something was holding the water back. Something that was no walking slowly towards Gary.

" **Pikoa."** The ghost was talking through Gary now and spoke with more disdain than had ever passed through Gary's lips before. It was clear that the ghost had some kind of history with the strange yellow and blue Pikachu that now approached, holding a bolt of blue electricity like a staff.

"That's a voice I never thought that I would hear again." Pikoa said. "It's been a long time, but it feels like it hasn't been long enough."

" **You would dare come here at the moment of my return and taught me, rodent**?" The ghost asked angrily, gripping the arms of the throne so hard that Gary's knuckled started to turn white and then stood up to properly face his adversary. **"When you are the one who caused my kingdom to sink into these depths to begin with?"**

"Hey, you can't blame everything that happened on me!" Pikoa snapped. "Besides, you deserved all of it and more for the things that you did when you were still alive! There's no way that I would let you return and do it all again!"

" **But you can't do anything to stop me this time."** The ghost laughed. **"Not without hurting this child."**

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Pikoa said smugly. "You're essence is still bound to this palace. You haven't fully transferred yourself to that boy yet, which means if I can take him far away from this place, then it will break the link and you will be trapped here again, never to escape."

" **You could try that…"** The ghost started to say. **"Or…"**

The strange Pokémon that Gary had caught a glimpse of earlier jumped in from the hole in the wall, ready to attack. No that Gary got a good look at it, it looked like the lower half of the Pokémon was a blue, fishlike tail while its upper half vaguely resembled that of a Dewgong, but more slender and with long, light blue hair that flower almost like water. Without looking, Pikoa tossed his Lightning Javelin at the Pokémon, knocking it out effortlessly.

"Did you really think that that would work?" Pikoa asked. "I can sense everything that moves in the water, you know. There was no way your Primarina could have snuck up on me."

" **Yet another gift from your master, I suppose. You have no true power of your own, do you?"**

"Don't you dare bring Lord Manaphy into this!" Pikoa yelled furiously as the Lightning Javelin rematerialized in his hand, which he pointed at Gary.

" **If you are going to strike me, then strike me. I have other descendants than this one, you know. Others who share my blood. Others that I can use."**

"And I will make sure that you are never able to get your hands on another one of them. I can't let you bring your atrocities back into this world. Pokélantis will never rise again, nor shall its former king. Which is why I must do this!"

Suddenly the water that was steadily pouring into the chamber erupted in at full force, filling the entire chamber instantly. The force of the water was enough to knock Gary unconscious and he missed everything that followed.

* * *

Daisy ran back into Fuchsia City pulling her Pokégear out of her pocket. She dialed Kat's number and held it up to her ear, waiting for her cousin to pick up.

"Did you find him?" Was the first thing that Kat asked when she answered the call.

"Not exactly. It looks like he headed south to the beach and then disappeared. There's something weird going on over there though."

"I'll be right there. Where are you now?"

"I'm just reaching the Pokémon Center on the edge of town." Daisy answered.

"I'll be right there. See you in a moment."

Kat hung up, so Daisy put her Pokégear away. She didn't know any of the others' phone numbers, so she couldn't let any of them know what had happened. She would leave that up to Kat. After a moment, a single Charizard came into view flying towards her and landed just a few feet away.

"Climb on!" Kat ordered from the Charizard's back. "We'll check out the beach from the air. Hopefully we'll be able to find something from up there that you couldn't from below."

Daisy obeyed and climbed onto Charizard, holding on to Kat for support as the Flame Pokémon lifted off the ground and flew to Route 19.

"So what was it that happened?" Kat asked. She had to yell to be heard over the wind.

"I'm not sure." Daisy shouted back. "I thought I saw some kind of Pokémon on a rock out in the ocean and I started to hear singing. The next thing that I knew I was walking into the water, already knee deep. If Cleffa hadn't snapped me out of it I might have gone all the way in. You don't think that could have been what happened to Gary, could it."

"Probably. Can you point out where the Pokémon was?"

"It would have been… there!" Daisy pointed to the rock that the Pokémon was on as it came into view.

"Alright, we're going down to check it out."

"But what if it gets us?" Daisy worried.

"You said that Cleffa was able to snap you out of the trance, right?" Kat asked.

"Yeah."

"That means that whatever it is, it should only be affecting humans. Charizard here will keep us out of trouble."

Charizard dove down low over the water and circled the rock. Kat and Daisy looked around, but couldn't find anything suspicious.

"Looks like whatever was here left already." Kat observed. "I think we should probably head back to Fuchsia now. The trail's gone cold here."

"Shouldn't we keep looking?" Daisy asked.

"For what? We don't know what we're looking for. We'll just have to trust that Gary will be safe for now and head back to meet up with the others. Perhaps we'll come up with something then."

"Alright, but it still doesn't feel right leaving while he's still out there."

"We're not leaving him." Kat reassured Daisy. "We'll never leave him behind."

* * *

"I'm sorry, ma'am." Red tried to apologize to the old woman yelling at him. "I shouldn't have said that."

"SORRY AIN'T GONNA BE GOOD ENOUGH!" The woman continued to shout, far louder than a woman of her apparent age had any right to. "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO MORE THAN THAT TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE GONNA DO!"

The old woman suddenly grabbed Red by the ear and started pulling him away. Bill and Yellow followed them, unsure of what to do about the current situation. The woman dragged Red around the block and up onto a wooden stage where another old woman was standing. She pushed him onto the floor in front of the second lady and began talking to her.

"HEY, NASTINA! I'VE BROUGHT YOU A VOLUNTEER TO HELP STOP WHOEVER'S RUINING YOUR PARK!"

"WHY THANK YOU BRUTELLA! IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WILLING HELP OUT A RESPECTFUL LADY SUCH AS MYSELF OUT THERE!"

Red looked up at the two old women, who appeared to be almost identical to each other. They both had the same crinkled old face that suggested that they both did a lot of frowning and they both had their hair done in pigtails that seemed like they would fit better on someone only a fraction of their age. The only discernable differences between them were their clothing and their hair color. The one who had dragged him there, apparently named Brutella, had bright red hair while the other, Nastina, had more of a reddish orange shade.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME, BOY?" Nastina asked Red. It appeared that both women also shared the same habit of yelling everything they said.

"Samuel Redwood." Red wasn't quite sure why he just gave her his full name but guessed that it must have been because of how uncomfortable the two women made him feel."

"WELL, SAMMY, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU WANT TO HELP ME OUT." Shouted Nastina. "YOU SEE, SOMEONE HAS BEEN BREAKING INTO THE CONSTRUCTION AREA OF MY BEAUTIFUL AMUSEMENT PARK AND HOTEL AND DESTROYING AS MUCH OF IT AS THEY CAN. NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY TRY, MY SECURITY TEAM CAN'T SEEM TO STOP THEM. BUT SINCE YOU OFFERED TO HELP, I'M GOING TO HAVE YOU WAIT AROUND THERE AND CAPTURE THE CRIMINAL WHEN THEY SHOW UP TONIGHT. WHEN YOU CATCH THEM, I'LL GIVE YOU A REWARD OF ONE THOUSAND POKé. ISN'T NASTINA GENEROUS?"

Red wanted to object to being called 'Sammy' and point out that that prize was significantly less than she had said earlier during her announcement, but he didn't say anything because he didn't want to get yelled at anymore.

Nastina held up the walking stick that she was holding and used it to point to some sort of offshore facility that was just barely in view. "NOW GET GOING! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN UNTIL YOU'VE CAUGHT THE MONSTER WHO'S BEEN CAUSING ALL OF THIS TROUBLE!"

Red scrambled up to his feet and started running towards where she had pointed to. The faster he could get away from them the better. Bill and Yellow, who had been standing away from the stage so that they wouldn't draw the attention of Brutella or Nastina, ran after him.

"Are you really going to try and capture whoever's destroying the park?" Yellow asked Red.

"It doesn't sound like I really have a choice." Red replied. "I just want to get this over with and get out of this city. Although I suppose we should try to find Sable before we leave."

"I'm right here."

The sudden appearance of the purple-haired young woman running next to Red caused him to trip as he continued to run and he fell to the ground. Yellow and Bill both crashed into him and fell over him.

"Where did you come from?" Red asked.

"I just saw you running and decided to join you. What are you doing, anyway?"

* * *

Ash stood in front of the PC in the Indigo Plateau Pokémon Center, with his hand hovering over the keyboard. He couldn't decide if he wanted to bring the Raticate King into his party or not. There was no doubt that it, or they, would make a powerful addition to his team if they would obey him, but what if they didn't? He had no way of knowing if the five Psychic Raticate would listen to him or not and if they didn't there would be no telling what kind of problems they could cause. On the other hand, it wasn't like not having them with him meant that they wouldn't cause any trouble. They would be at Professor Oak's Pokémon facility back in Pallet Town and could potentially be causing even more problems there than they would with Ash.

He decided that it was for the best that the Raticate be with him. At the very least he should be able to keep it in its Ultra Ball where it shouldn't be able to cause any harm, similar to how Carmine kept his Tyranitar under control. He clicked the button to send the Raticate King to him and an Ultra Ball materialized on his belt next to his Pokéballs. He then logged out of the computer and left, leaving the Pokémon League and heading into the nearby forest so that there would be no one nearby to get hurt if things went wrong.

"Haunter?" Ash called for his Ghost-type once he was sure that he would be far enough away.

"What do you want?" Haunter asked with a bit of irritation in his voice as he popped out of his Pokéball and hovered beside ask.

"I'm about to send out the Raticate King. I want you on guard in case I can't control it yet. You have a type advantage over it, so it shouldn't be too much trouble for you."

"Are you sure that you really want to do that?" Haunter asked, concerned.

"It's not like I really have a choice." Ash said. "What else can I do with it?"

"I don't know." Haunter said honestly. "But I still don't think that this is a wise decision. Perhaps you could find a way to seal it away where it won't be a problem?"

"And how do you know that it deserves that?" Ash asked.

Haunter stared at Ash for a moment, deep in thought. "I suppose I don't." Haunter relented. "Do what you wish."

Ash let in a sharp breath of air and held out the Ultra Ball, pressing the button to send out what was inside. A flash of yellow Pokénergy erupted from the Ultra Ball and to a point on the ground a few feet in front of him, where the Raticate King materialized. The five Raticate joined at their tails each jittered and sniffed around, unfamiliar with the forest environment. After a moment of taking in their surroundings, the two Raticate closest to Ash turned to face him, standing eerily still.

-What is it that you ask of us, Master?- The words were sent telepathically into Ash's mind in five different voices at once.

"M-Master?" Ash stuttered. "You called me master. That means that you accept me as your trainer, right?"

-Of course, Master. You were the one who was able to capture us in that strange device you hold. That means that you are the one who we now serve.-

Ash let out a sigh of relief. This was going much better than he had expected.

-However, you have not yet earned our respect or the right to fully command us. We will not harm you or those close to you, we will not cause any trouble that will be reflected back to you, but we will not take orders from you until we have decided that you are worthy.-

Ash knew that things had been going to well to be true. But at least things weren't too bad.

"Alright then." Ash said. "That's pretty much all I wanted to know right now, so return to your Ultra Ball." He held out the black and yellow Ultra Ball and pressed the button again, but nothing happened.

-You did not listen to us. We said that we would not listen to you. Now, leave us be.-

"No." Ash said firmly. "You're going back to your Ultra Ball."

-No, Master. We will not.-

Ash suddenly found himself pushed back by a blast of Psychic energy. Haunter tried to intervene, but all five Raticate used Scary Face on him at once, lowering his speed to the point where he could barely move as the Raticate king ran off deeper into the woods.

"Well, that didn't go the way I hope that it would." Ash groaned as he got back up onto his feet.


	101. Chapter 101

"How long do you think it will take them to show up?" Yellow asked Red as they, Bill and Sable walked around the construction zone, waiting for some sign of someone coming in to sabotage the place.

"Who knows?" Red replied. "We don't even know that there will be anyone. For all we know, that lady could have just made the whole thing up."

"Why would she do that?" Asked Yellow.

"I don't know why, but that doesn't mean that it isn't possible."

"Perhaps we could just leave now?" Sable suggested. "It's not like we would miss out on anything important if we did."

"No." Red shook his head. "I have a feeling that something is going to happen. I just don't know when."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud splashing sound echoed throughout the area.

"What was that?" Yellow asked, grabbing on to Red's waist and holding him tightly.

"I don't know." Red answered, resting his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Probably just a Water-type Pokémon in the area surfacing for air or something."

"It's getting hard to see anything now that the sun's going down." Bill said, straining his eyes looking in the direction that he thought the noise had come from.

"It is quite the lovely sunset, though." Sable mused.

A wet plopping noise squelched through the air, followed by another and another.

"Well, that's not something that you hear every day." Bill said as he backed up towards Red.

"It sounds like we're surrounded." Sable did the same.

"Perhaps staying here might not have been the best idea after all." Red said weakly. "But I'm sure that we can hold our own against whatever it is that's coming towards us.

The four stood close together, wary of the splotching noises that surrounded them and seemed to be getting closer.

"After all, we can take on anything together, right?" Red asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed this about me, but I'm not exactly much for battling." Bill said. "The only Pokémon that I even have with me is my new Porygon and I don't even know what it can do in a fight yet."

"And I don't have anything at all to help with." Sable added. "So it looks like you two are on your own for the actual fighting, should it come to that."

"I'm scared." Yellow whimpered, increasing the tightness of her grip on Red's waist.

"It doesn't matter." Red said, with a bit more determination in his voice than he had before. "We can still make it through whatever is about to happen."

"I think they're almost here." Yellow whispered.

Sure enough, dozens of seemingly amorphous forms came into view from all directions, silhouetted against the golden-red sky as the sun sank below the horizon. Countless tentacles flopped against the ground as they crawled towards them slowly.

"What are they?"

"They look like…" Bill muttered. "Tentacool?"

* * *

"This is bad." Ash said as he paced back and forth frantically. "This is really, really bad."

"It could be worse." Haunter tried to calm his trainer down.

"How? I just let that… thing… loose! There's no telling what it could do!"

"The Raticate King did say that it wouldn't cause any trouble before it fled." Haunter pointed out.

"Any trouble that could lead back to me. That doesn't really mean much since only three people even know that that thing is even mine to begin with. It could cause all kinds of problems out there and not have anything fall back directly on me, but it would still be out there doing who-knows-what!"

"Hmm…" Haunter rested his right hand under his chin. Despite his earlier complaints, he seemed to have adjusted to his new form rather quickly. "Well I don't know much about how modern technology works, but couldn't you just do that thing that you did to bring the Raticate King to you, but in reverse?"

"You mean send it back into storage at the professor's place?" Ash asked.

"Sure, what you just said."

"I suppose that could work."

"Then go do it."

Ash hurried back to the same PC that he had used to place the Raticate King into his party less than an hour earlier and logged into it. He dragged the icon representing the Raticate King out of his party and into the box that represented Oak's Pokémon facility. The Ultra Ball on Ash's belt vanished and he gave a sigh of relief. Then an error message popped up on screen.

"Could not locate Pokémon." Ash read aloud.

"Well, I guess that didn't work out quite as expected." Haunter said, looking over Ash's shoulder. "But there isn't really anything else that we can do now. I suppose you'll just have to hope that the Raticate King won't do anything for now and come back for it when you're prepared."

"But how am I supposed to prepare for that thing. You saw what it can do. It managed to use five attacks at once!"

"Actually it used one move five times." Haunter pointed out. "But that's beside the point. It said that it wouldn't follow your orders _yet_ , didn't it? And as you collect more badges you'll be able to have higher-leveled Pokémon obey you, right? So just go looking for it when you come back to enter the Pokémon League. By that point, it should have to do what you tell it."

"I hope your right." Ash sighed as he logged out of the PC.

"Or you could just tell Carmine. I'm sure he could probably handle it for you."

"No!" Ash snapped at his Pokémon. "I've already relied on his help too much so far. I need to be able to deal with things on my own."

"Or you just don't want to admit to him that you messed up." Haunter made a motion that Ash interpreted as a shrug, though it was hard to tell when he had no arms.

"That too, I guess." Ash said quietly. "But mostly because of what I said."

* * *

Daisy and Kat walked into the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center, where Mal, Ciel and Sue were waiting for them.

"Any sign?" Mal asked hopefully.

Kat shook her head, which the others all understood meant that they had still hadn't found Gary.

"Where could he have gone?" Ciel wondered aloud. "I know that I didn't know him very well, but this still seems completely unlike him."

"He ran away once when we were young." Daisy said drearily as she walked over to a chair and sunk down into it, looking like she was about to cry. The others all stared at her in stunned silence except for Kat, who looked away uncomfortably.

"It wasn't long after Mr. Ketchum disappeared." Daisy explained. "Gary looked up to Mr. Ketchum as a hero. He was widely known for being one of the greatest trainers that this nation had ever seen, so naturally Gary idolized him. I did too. Once Mr. Ketchum was gone, we all took it pretty hard, but especially Gary. Ash closed himself off from the rest of us after his father vanished, which meant that Gary lost not only his hero, but also his best friend. After a while, it just got too much for him and he ran away from home. It took our parents three days before they finally managed to find him on Route 1, halfway to Viridian City, and brought him back. After that, our parents have always been overly protective of him, especially Dad, which is probably why he made sure that all of you went with him on his journey."

"I had no idea…" Ciel muttered.

"I actually had heard that before." Mal said. "I overheard David mention it once when he was running for mayor. I never found out the details about it, though."

"There are a lot of things in the past we don't like to talk about much." Kat said bitterly. "Pallet Town has never been quite the rural paradise that most people paint it out to be. We've had all kinds of problems in the past and for some reason, keeping them buried seems to be the go-to solution for everything, and our family is the worst with it."

"Don't say that." Daisy pleaded with her cousin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it." Kat apologized. "I'm just a bit bitter about the current situation."

"It's okay. I know you want to find Gary as much as I do. It's just… where do we look now?"

"We'll find out." Kat said hopefully. "We're Oaks after all, and Oaks always stand strong together."


	102. Chapter 102

The sound of the front door sliding open drew Daisy out of her thoughts and she looked over to see who had entered the Pokémon Center. She thought for a second that it would be Giselle, checking to see what was going on, but she was wrong. It was the two swimmers that she had talked to earlier, now fully clothed, along with another man that she had never seen before. The three men walked over to Daisy and the others.

"Koga?" Kat asked in confusion as she saw the man that Daisy did not know. "What are you doing here?"

"I was informed that a boy has gone missing in the area and I have come to aid in the search. Am I correct in guessing that you are the ones who are looking for him?"

"Right." Daisy said. "My brother Gary disappeared. We haven't been able to find any trace of him."

"Don't worry." Koga said, slowly kneeling down to talk to Daisy at eye level. "I will do everything in my power to find out where he has gone and bring him back here safe and sound. What information can you tell me about what happened?"

"He left without saying anything earlier this afternoon." Mal explained. "By the time any of us had realized that he was gone, it was already too late."

"I thought he would have gone to your Gym to challenge you." Kat added. "But it looks like he went down to Route 19 for some reason instead. There was some sort of Pokémon there earlier that used a hypnotic song to try and lure Daisy into the water when she was looking for him, but she was able to snap out of it before going all the way in. We think that it might have done the same thing to Gary earlier, but it's gone now so we don't know for sure."

"Hmm…" Koga took a moment to process this information and stood back up. "I have heard rumors of a strange Pokémon that has been sighted off the shore of Route 19 as of late, but this is the first that I have heard of it trying to bring people into the water. I will go to investigate myself. For now, I suggest that you all get some rest. I'm sure you've all worked very hard trying to find him and could use some sleep."

"Thank you." Daisy said. "This means a lot to me."

"Think nothing of it." Koga replied. "It is my duty as a Gym leader to help anyone in need. And right now your brother is certainly in quite a bit of need. I will go now. The sooner I begin my search, the sooner I will be able to find him."

* * *

"Go, Parasect!" Red yelled out as he held up a Pokéball. The mushroom Pokémon jumped out and landed on the ground in front of the huddled group of Red, Yellow, Bill and Sable.

"Um, go Maggie." Yellow said, holding her own Pokéball out the way that Red had. Her Gyarados emerged from it and surrounded the group with its long tail.

"Parasect! Climb up on Maggie's back and hit the Tentacool with a wave of Stun Spore!"

"Maggie! Attack them with… um… an attack!"

Parasect tried to make its way up onto Maggie, but with little success. Maggie decided to help him out and moved the tip of its tail underneath him, pushing him up onto her back. From there, Parasect sprayed out a thick cloud of spores from the mushroom growing out of its back that fell over the approaching Tentacool and caused them to seize up, unable to move any closer. Maggie then turned her attention to the Tentacool coming in from the other sides and pointed her tail towards some of them. The air around her tail condensed into an orb around it and then a funnel of raging wind grew out from the orb, heading straight for the Tentacool. The attack sent them flying back into the water and curved around to get even more of them. It didn't take long before Maggie's Twister attack was able to send all of the Tentacool back into the ocean from which they had come.

"Did you get all of them?" Bill asked.

"I don't know." Red replied. "It's hard to tell with Maggie in the way."

"Hey!" Yellow snapped at him.

"I just meant that I can't see anything." Red said defensively. "Although I can't hear anything either, so I think that must have been all of them."

Red and Yellow recalled their Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.

"Yep, looks like that was all of them." Red said with a sigh of relief. "That was certainly easier than I thought it would be."

"That was my first Pokémon battle." Yellow said.

"Yeah, I guess that was."

"I'm a Pokémon Trainer now!"

"Well, you're not a full Pokémon Trainer yet since you only have a permit rather than a license." Bill pointed out. "But there isn't really much of a difference, so yeah. You're a Pokémon Trainer."

"This is so cool!"

"Does anyone else hear that?" Sable asked, breaking the mood.

"Hear what?" Red asked.

"That." Sable raised a finger and the others all remained silent for a moment. None of them noticed anything at first, but after a moment they began to hear a loud crashing sound like a waterfall. Sable then lowered her finger to point forwards and the others looked where she was pointing.

"What is that?" Yellow screamed in horror as something massive rose out of the water. The indeterminate blue and red object was far larger than Maggie and possibly even larger than the S.S. Anne had been.

"I think it might be…" Bill started to say. "If those things earlier were Tentacool… but it shouldn't be nearly that large…"

"What do you think it is?" Red asked him.

"I think… it's a Tentacruel. But not just any Tentacruel, this has got to be something like the Dragonite that damaged my lighthouse or the Tyranitar that attacked Johto all those years ago."

Several gray tentacles rose up out of the water in front of the blue mass and landed on the ground with a massive thud before pulling the giant Jellyfish Pokémon up fully above the water. The massive Tentacruel towered above the group who looked on with horror. Dozens of tentacles hung down from the monster's black underbelly, from which also sprouted two large blue mandibles that looked like they could easily crush through boulders like nothing. The top of its head covered in blue plating, with two giant red orbs sticking out and one smaller one in the center of its forehead. Not that the top of its head was still visible from down below, were they stood looking up at it as it stared down back at them. Fury clearly burning behind its eyes.

"I have no idea what's happening or why." Red said. "But I think the answer to this problem is simple. Yellow, use Abraham to get us out of here."

"Right." Yellow reached down to grab Abraham's Pokéball from around her waist, but before she could grab it, a massive tentacle swung down where they were standing and Red had to grab her and jump out of the way, while Bill and Sable leaped to the opposite side of where it landed.

"It's not even going to give us a chance to escape, is it?" Red said as he and Yellow got back up onto their feet. "And I don't think that there's anything that we can do against something that big."

"What do we do?" Yellow asked.

"I'm not sure." Red replied. "Parasect isn't nearly strong enough to take something like that on, Charmeleon is weak to Water-type moves which that thing probably has a ton of, and I don't know what Porygon can do yet. I doubt even Maggie could take that thing on."

"But we won't know for sure unless we try, right?" Yellow asked, reaching for Maggie's Pokéball as the giant Tentacuel readied another attack.

"Yellow, no! We need to find a way to get away from here, not fight it!"

But it was too late, Yellow had already sent out her first Pokémon, which almost seemed to fly through the air out of its Pokéball as it went straight for the tentacle that was swinging down and used Bite on it. The Tentacuel raised another tentacle to slap her away but was interrupted by a bolt of electricity that seemed to come out of nowhere and hit Tentacruel straight in the central red orb on its head. Red and Yellow looked up at where the lightning had come from to see the silhouette of a Pokémon standing on top of a pillar. The Pokémon sent out a second Lightning Bolt and for a split second, they could see the Pikachu properly in the light of the attack.

"Where did that thing come from?" Red wondered in shock.

"I don't know." Yellow said. "But she seems… familiar…"


	103. Chapter 103

The giant Tentacruel swiped one of its tentacles at Pikachu, who backflipped out of the way of the attack and landed on all four feet next to where Red and Yellow were standing. She may not be the strongest Pokémon out there, or even the strongest Pikachu, but at least she had a type advantage, which meant that she could do something to help protect Yellow from this monster. She sent out another Thunder Shock at the Tentacruel and used Quick Attack to run up a partially constructed wall to get a higher vantage point.

"I feel like I've seen that Pikachu somewhere." Yellow muttered while staring up at the Electric-type Mouse Pokémon, spacing out everything else.

"Now's not the time." Red said a bit louder than he meant as he grabbed Yellow off the ground and started running away from the Tentacruel. "We've got to get out of here."

The tentacle that had separated Red and Yellow from Bill and Sable was still there and appeared to make its way all of the way to the other end of the small man-made island that they were on, effectively splitting the offshore construction site in two and preventing the two groups from reuniting. Despite this, Red ran alongside the tentacle as fast as he could while trying to carry Yellow in the vain hope that he would find a way to the other side of it to regroup with the others so that they could make their escape. Pikachu continued to attack Tentacruel while he did so, providing a distraction to keep Tentacuel's focus away from them. After a few minutes, Red managed to reach the edge of the site, which the tentacle hung off the side of. There was no way for them to cross to the other side without trying to climb over it.

"This… isn't good." Red said between deep gasps for air as he put Yellow back down. Running while carrying the girl took a lot more out of him than he expected.

"Where have I seen her before?" Yellow whispered, still staring off in Pikachu's direction.

"You're probably… thinking… of one of… Ash's Pikachu… from the S.S. Anne." Red said, still catching his breath. "His second one... was a girl… I think."

"No, that's not it." Yellow shook her head. "This one's different. The marks on her ears are different."

Red looked up at the Pikachu. He hadn't paid much attention to it before and it was too far away for him to make out clearly. "Different how?"

"I don't know." Yellow said. "They seemed… spikier, I guess. The ones we've seen before had smoother marks than this one."

Pikachu dodged another one of Tentacruel's tentacles, jumping down to the ground again and landing a bit closer to where they were standing. Sure enough, Red was able to faintly see what Yellow was talking about. But in a moment, Pikachu was too far away again.

"I guess there's no use just thinking about it." Red said. "We need to do something to help out. I don't think any of my Pokémon can do anything against that thing, but Maggie might have a chance."

"Right!" Yellow nodded and pulled Maggie's Pokéball out again. A moment later, the large Water-type was flying through the air at Tentacruel and bit into one of its tentacles with an Ice Fang attack before falling into the water next to the beast. She swam around fighting more of the monster's appendages as Pikachu continued fighting from above.

"I suppose I should at least see what my new Porygon can do." Red said as he pulled out his Pokédex to check what it had to say on the matter. "Wait, it looks like it might be of some use after all. Porygon, use Thunderbolt!"

Red sent out his new Pokémon, which emerged from its Pokéball and floated in the air in front of him for a moment, not immediately responding to his command. The blue and red, bird-like Virtual Pokémon seemed to study its surroundings for a moment before rising up in the air. Electricity surged between the tip of its beak and then shot out at Tentacruel. The attack managed to hit, but that only seemed to make it angrier. Tentacruel stopped attacking and retracted all of its tentacles back to itself, even the one separating Bill and Sable from Red and Yellow.

"Are you all right?" Red asked the others as they came into view.

"Perfectly fine." Bill called back to him. "But why are you all of the way back there?"

Red then realized that he and Yellow were still near the far edge of the construction site. He and Yellow then ran over to meet up with the others.

"I think this is our chance to escape." Bill said once they had regrouped. "Just quickly recall your Pokémon and send out your Abra and we should be able to get out of here in no time."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Sable said, pointing a finger up at Tentacruel. "It's readying another attack."

The others all looked over and saw what she was referring to. The red orbs embedded in Tentacruel's head glowed brightly, a clear indicator that it was about to do something.

"Run!" Red shouted and all four quickly made their way behind a wall just in time. A wall of water rushed by them with a ferocious power behind it. After it passed, they could see Maggie, Pikachu and Porygon lying on the ground where they had just been standing. Maggie flopped around, trying to get back up while Porygon rose back into the air. Pikachu continued to lie down, apparently unconscious.

Porygon suddenly flashed white for a second as it changed color. Its previously red and blue body now being completely blue, with a wavy pattern to it.

"What just happened?" Red wondered aloud.

"I think Porygon just used one of its unique moves." Bill explained. "Unless I'm mistaken, it just used Conversion 2, which changed Porygon's type to something that resists the last attack it was hit by."

"That sounds useful." Red said. "Though I'm not sure how helpful it will be in this situation. What even was that move it just used?"

"I've I had to make a guess, I would say it was some sort of extra powerful Hydro Pump. Or maybe Surf?"

"I don't think that it really matters what move it used." Sable said. "What's important is that we find a way to stop it or get away."

"Um, Sable." Yellow stammered, looking over the woman's shoulder.

"What?" Sable asked, turning to see what she was looking at, but it was too late. Sable was suddenly pulled away by one of Tentacruel's tentacles that had snuck up on her from around the side of the wall.

Red, Bill and Yellow all ran out to face Tentacruel, who was waving Sable around in the air triumphantly.

"What's it doing?" Yellow asked in horror.

"I don't kn-" Bill started to say, but was suddenly cut off.

" **STOP!"** A voice echoed loudly around the area, and yet it seemed as though it only existed in the minds of those who heard it. It sounded like Sable's voice, but there was something different about it. **"FOR A LONG TIME I HAVE SLUMBERED PEACEFULLY IN MY HOME DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES."**

Red's jaw went slack as he realized what was happening. The Tentacruel was somehow using Sable as a mouthpiece of some sort to communicate directly with them for some reason. Although he had no idea how or why it seemed to be communicating telepathically through her.

" **BUT THEN I WAS AWOKEN FROM MY SLUMBER WHEN A HUMAN VESSEL SANK BELOW THE OCEAN'S SURFACE AND STRUCK ME. I WAS GOING TO OVERLOOK THIS INCIDENT, BUT BEFORE I COULD RESUME MY SLEEP I LEARNED OF HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN DESTROYING THE HOME OF MY BRETHREN HERE. THEY HAVE TRIED THEIR BEST TO RECLAIM THERE HOME AND PREVENT ITS DESTRUCTION, BUT YOU HAVE STOPPED THEM. WHY?"**

"W-what are you talking about?" Red asked.

" **YOU HAVE USED THE POkéMON THAT SERVE YOU TO FIGHT OFF MY BRETHREN AND EVEN ME. WHY IS IT THAT YOU INSIST ON DESTROYING OUR HOME?"**

"I… we didn't know!" Red tried to explain. "We were just told that someone was trying to stop the construction here and we were asked to stop them."

" **FOOLISH HUMANS. YOU ALL HEAD INTO BATTLE RECKLESSLY WITH NO IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING. YOU ARE JUST LIKE THOSE WHO ATTACKED ME WHEN THEY TRIED TO FIND THE VESSEL THAT HAD AWOKEN ME FROM MY SLUMBER."**

Tentacruel then raised five more of its tentacles above the water, revealing five more women that the giant Pokémon waved around in the air alongside Sable. Among them were Misty and her sister that Red had fought in the Cerulean Gym, Lily. He assumed that two of the others must be their other sisters, but he had no idea who the last one was.

" **AND NOW YOU WILL ALL SHARE IN THE SAME FATE."**


	104. Chapter 104

"Well, this just keeps getting worse and worse." Red sighed as he looked up at the giant Tentacruel and the six women that it held hostage. "Anyone have any ideas of how we stop this thing?"

"Could we try reasoning with it?" Bill suggested. "It just said that it's attacking because this construction site was harming the home of the native Tentacool. Perhaps if we explain that we didn't know that and if we promise to help stop it, then that thing will let them go and leave."

"I'm not sure about that, but it's worth a shot, I guess. Better than our other options right now." Red cleared his throat and addressed the giant Tentacruel. "We didn't know that this place was disturbing the wild Pokémon! We were just told to stop whoever was trying to sabotage the construction without knowing the details of what was going on! If you let those people go we can work together to stop the lady trying to build this thing and restore the Tentacool's habitat."

" **YOU CLAIM YOU DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON,"** Sable's distorted voice ran through their minds again. **"BUT IT IS YOUR OWN FAULT THAT YOU AGREED TO GO INTO THIS WITHOUT FIRST LEARNING WHAT IT WAS YOU WERE DOING. THE WORLD WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO REMAIN WILFULLY IGNORANT OF YOUR OWN ACTIONS. I WILL NOT SPARE YOU BECAUSE YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE SPARED."**

"But we were forced into this!" Red pleaded.

" **I WILL NO LONGER LISTEN TO YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN DECISIONS AND THE CONSEQUENCES THEY BRING YOU."**

With that, the gem-like orbs on Tentacruel's head began to glow again and Red, Yellow and Bill quickly ran back behind the wall to avoid another attack. Yellow grabbed the fainted Pikachu off of the ground as she ran and Red's Porygon ducked behind the wall with them, but Maggie was caught in the massive blast of water and knocked back into the ocean.

"We could really use some kind of miracle right about now." Red said. "Like a Zapdos or something."

"What about that yellow and blue Pikachu that helped us earlier?" Yellow asked. "Pikololu?"

"Pikoa." Red corrected her. "Yeah, I'm sure he could come in handy right about now. But unfortunately all we have right now is ourselves and our Pokémon, and we are completely outmatched right now."

"Maybe you could catch one of the Tentacool from earlier and have it reason with that thing." Bill suggested.

"I'm sure that would just make it angrier." Red pointed out. "There's got to be something else that we can do."

"This feels familiar." Yellow muttered.

"What?" Red asked the girl.

"I'm not sure really. I just feel like we've been through something like this before. Confronted by a powerful Pokémon that we can't fight or reason with."

"Are you talking about when we fought Team Rocket back in Mt. Moon?" Red asked.

"No." Yellow shook her head. "Something else. Something after that."

"I hate to interrupt you while you're on the verge of remembering something," Bill said as he peered around the side of the wall to check on what the Tentacruel was doing. "But it looks like this wall is about to come crashing down!"

Taking Bill's cue, Red, Yellow and Porygon all ran away from the wall just as a massive tentacle smashed through the wall and reduced it to nothing more than rubble.

"Is there nothing we can do to stop this thing?" Red asked in frustration as they ran behind another wall, narrowly avoiding another Hydro Pump.

The Pikachu clutched in Yellow's arms twitched its ears and slowly opened its eyes as she regained consciousness. She looked around, seeing that they were still in danger and forced her way out of the girl's grasp.

"Hey, come back!" Yellow yelled at the Pikachu as she ran towards the giant Tentacruel as top speed. "It's dangerous!"

"I know." Pikachu muttered as she forced herself to continue going forward. Her every instinct told her to turn back and run away, but she couldn't. Not now. It was her sworn duty to protect the girl and while she may not have been able to do any good back on the S.S. Anne, this was chance to finally make her mark. "That's why I have to do it."

Pikachu jumped out of the way of a swinging tentacle and ran up a support pillar. Another tentacle slammed into the pillar to knock her down, but she jumped on to it and started running towards the giant Tentacruel, building up as much electrical energy from her cheeks as she could. She had never used this move before and most of her kind weren't even able to pull it off, but she had no other options than to try.

"I have to protect you!" Pikachu shouted at the top of her lungs, though she knew that even if Yellow could hear her from that distance in the storm that had kicked up from the battle, Yellow wouldn't be able to understand what she said. Tears ran down the sides of her face as the electrical buildup became more than she could handle, overloading her body and sending a constant wave of paint throughout her nervous system. But she couldn't stop now, even if it meant electrocuting herself. "Even if it's the last thing that I do!"

Pikachu leaped off of the tentacle and rocketed through the air straight towards her opponent.

"VOLT!"

Tentacruel's eyes widened as it realized what was happening and that there was no way it would be able to dodge the overpowered attack. It did its best to brace himself from the impact, knowing that it would not be enough.

"TACKLE!"

Pikachu slammed straight into the center jewel of Tentacruel's head with enough force and electrical energy to send the monstrous leviathan hurtling back, collapsing back into the sea. It lost its grip on the girls that it held hostage as it happened, causing them to fall into the water, along with Pikachu, who had been knocked unconscious again from the backlash of her attack.

Red, Yellow and Bill watched in horror as the figures of the six women and Pikachu fell out of their sight into the water and they ran to the edge of the construction site to see if they were okay. As they ran, Maggie rose out of the water, the girls and Pikachu all resting on the Gyarados' back.

"Thank Arceus they're alright." Red said as Maggie gently lowered them to the ground.

"Do you think that it's gone?" Bill asked, eying the water cautiously. "I mean, what if that didn't actually knock it out? And even if it did, what will happen when it wakes up again?"

"I don't know." Red said as he and Bill checked to make sure that all of the women were okay. "But let's just hope we don't have to find out."

Yellow ran over to Pikachu and cradled her in her arms. She could feel the Electric Mouse Pokémon breathing, but it was faint. "She saved us."

"That she did." Red said with a sigh of relief. All Sable, Misty, her sisters and the woman that Red didn't know were all still breathing as well and would hopefully be waking up soon.

"But where did she even come from?" Bill asked.

"I don't know." Yellow said. "But I feel like she's been with us the whole time."

"Weird." Said Red. "Although now that you mention it, I have often felt like we were being followed. But why would a Pikachu be following us?"

"Do you think maybe it could have something to do with your past?" Bill asked. "Like, maybe it belongs to your family or something, so it's been following you this entire time?"

"I don't see how that could be, though." Red said before Yellow had a chance to answer. "We've been Teleporting around a lot, sometimes not even by choice. There's no way she would be able to keep track of where we've been going."

"I know her." Yellow said simply. "I don't know how or from where, but I definitely know her."

"Well, I suppose you have plenty of time to think about it." Bill sighed. "But for now we need to get these girls to a hospital and that Pikachu to a Pokémon Center."


	105. Chapter 105

Team Rocket's boat sped across the ocean as an island came into view at the edge of the moonlit horizon. It would only be a few minutes before they reached their destination.

"What is that?" James asked in awe as they moved in closer and they could start to see the island more clearly.

"That would be our new headquarters." Giovanni explained. "Although I must admit, it's much more grandiose than I was expecting."

"You can say that again." Mallory said. "The report that I found did mention that the facility was built out some kind of ancient temple, but this is far from what I would have expected."

After a moment the boat pulled up beside the island, which could barely even be called an island. The relatively small landmass was held up in the air by massive pillars of rock rising out of the water. On top of the elevated island was a large gray building that didn't match any known form of architecture. Huge spires rose up out of the main ancient structure that had apparently been modified by the scientist that formerly worked there into windmills. There were glowing green orbs built into the temple and a single purple one near the top of the highest tower that felt like it was beckoning them closer.

The boat drifted carefully underneath the island, passing between two of the small waterfalls that came down from the edges. They docked at a small alcove at the center of the island and Giovanni, Mallory, the Iron-Masked Marauder, Jessie, James, Meowth, Masque, Butch and Cassidy all got out of the boat. There was a large staircase leading up to the facility, which was lit by more of the strange green spheres.

"What kind of temple was this?" The Iron-Masked Marauder asked as they climbed up the staircase.

"The report didn't say." Mallory responded.

"If I had to make a guess, then I would say it was a temple of Lugia built by the ancient Pokélantians." Said Giovanni. "Though there are almost no surviving records of the civilization and no one has ever found one of their temples before, so it's hard to say for sure."

"How do you know that?" Jessie asked, surprised.

"Studying ancient civilizations was something of a hobby of mine back in college." Giovanni explained. "This temple looks to have built around the time they would have been active and this island was likely within their territory before they were destroyed."

"What happened to them?" Asked James as they reached the top of the staircase and entered a large open room.

"No one knows for sure. One of the few things that we know about them is that they worshiped a Lugia that's known to live somewhere within the Orange Archipelago and the leading theory is that they tried to capture it, but they failed and it destroyed their entire civilization in retaliation. There is very little evidence to support that theory, though. But that's beside the point. This place is ours now and we will do with it as we wish."

* * *

"So apparently a break means all night to you." Squirtle complained as he, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Zoroark sat around the campfire that they had made.

"We didn't realize how late it was." Bulbasaur said defensively. "And we're not going to walk around all night after we've already spent most of the day walking. We'll get to Cerulean tomorrow."

"But we're already so close!"

"The Gym probably isn't even open this late, anyway." Bulbasaur pointed out. "Besides, we'll need to be well rested for the battle."

"Ugh, fine." Squirtle folded his arms and looked around at the surrounding trees."

"Can you two please stop arguing?" Charmander asked exasperatedly. "Let's just enjoy this pleasant night, spent around a fire with friends."

"I'm not sure that 'friends' is really the right word." Squirtle said.

"What?" Charmander was taken aback by this comment. "We're not friends?"

"Well, obviously I consider you a friend." Squirtle verbally backtracked. "And Zoroark as well."

"You just meant to say that I'm not your friend." Bulbasaur clarified. "Which I can't blame you for saying. I'm here to make sure that Charmander stays safe and that Zoroark finds her son. I don't really care about you at all."

"The feeling is mutual." Squirtle said, standing up and shaking his fist.

"Guys!" Charmander pleaded as Bulbasaur stood up as well, raising the vines from under the bulb on his back threateningly. "Don't fight. We're supposed to be a team."

Charmander flinched as Zoroark reached over and put her hand on Charmander's shoulder unexpectedly.

"That's why they need to do this." She whispered to him. "If the tensions between them keep up like they have been, then they won't be able to work together. Just let them blow off some steam and they should be alright."

* * *

Red slumped into a chair in the hospital waiting room and sighed. "Well, this has been quite a night so far."

"What are we going to do now?" Bill asked.

"I suppose we should go find that old lady and tell her to stop her construction project. We can't exactly just let her damage the environment anymore. Especially if damaging the environment causes giant Pokémon to suddenly attack out of nowhere. Although I suppose we could probably wait until morning for that."

"Wait!" Yellow held up the unconscious Pikachu wrapped in her arms. "We need to go to the Pokémon center!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right." Red said. "Sorry that I forgot about that."

Red leaned forward and looked more closely at the Pikachu. For the most part, it looked like a normal Pikachu, with a rounded, almost heart-shaped tail that signified that it was a girl. But the black marks at the ends of her ears were jagged, which he had never seen before.

"Where do you think this Pikachu came from?" He asked no one in particular.

"I suppose there's no way to be sure." Sable answered wistfully.

"Come on, let's go." Yellow said impatiently, motioning with her arms to the exit.

"We should probably wait until we hear how those girls are going before we leave." Red replied.

"I can stay here while you go." Bill suggested.

"Thanks." Red stood back up and walked over to where Yellow was, then turned back to Bill. "We'll be back soon."

"I'll stay here as well." Sable sat down in the chair Red had just been in. "I don't really feel like doing anything right now."

With that, Red and Yellow left the hospital, leaving Bill and Sable behind.

"Wait a minute…" Bill said as he looked over at Sable. "Weren't you just unconscious a moment ago?"

"No." Sable replied.

"Yes you were. We just checked you in with those Gym Leaders."

"You must have gotten mixed up in the confusion." Sable shrugged. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"But that Tentacruel caught you and was using you to talk to us telepathically." Bill insisted.

"How would that even be possible?" Sable asked. "I'm not a psychic. I don't have that kind of power. And even if I did, how would it even be able to do that?"

"Huh," Bill stroked his chin. "You know, I'm not sure. I could have sworn it used to you talk to us, though."

"You're clearly tired as well. We've all had a long night. I would suggest that you get some rest." Sable waved her hand and suddenly Bill fell back into the chair he was standing in front of, fast asleep.

Sable sighed and stood up, walking over to the restrooms. Once she was inside the women's room she stood in front of a sink and rested her hands on the counter, staring at her reflection.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." She muttered to herself "But I have enjoyed my time with them so far. It's been a long time since I've let myself get close to anyone like this. And the girl and the Pikachu are together now. I look forward to seeing how they interact. Perhaps we could even be like a family, at least for a little while…"

A rather uncharacteristic smile passed over Sable's face and she watched as tears started to well up in her eyes before looking down at the empty sink.

"It's been so long since I've had a family. So very, _very_ long."


	106. Chapter 106

"Did you hear that?" Yellow asked, tugging at Red's arm with one hand while she held Pikachu in the other.

"Hear what?" Red asked her.

"I'm not sure. It sounded like when those Tentacool showed up earlier."

Red stopped walking and looked around. He couldn't see anything outside of what was lit up by the streetlights lining the road that they walked beside.

"You're probably just still shaken up by what happened." Red tried to reassure her as they kept walking again. But then he stopped as he heard the distinct slopping sound that they had heard just earlier that night. "Stay behind me."

Red turned around again, this time placing an arm in front of Yellow to try and shield her from any danger. He still couldn't see any sign of movement at first, but after a moment it came into view. A single Tentacruel, only normal sized unlike the one they had faced earlier, plopped its way down the empty road towards them. Ash lowered his hand to his Pokéballs, ready to call out his Parasect. But the Tentacruel didn't make any obvious signs of hostility as it crept closer. After a moment the Tentacruel lifted up one of its tentacles to hold something up. It took a moment for Red to realize what it was.

"Wait a minute…" Red checked the inside pocket of his vest. "My badge case!"

The Tentacruel was now only a few feet away from them and lowered its tentacle slightly as if it was trying to hand the small metal case to Red. Red hesitated before accepting it cautiously from the Water-type.

"Thank you?" Red wasn't sure if he should actually be thanking the Tentacruel or not but felt that it was the right way to respond.

"Watch out!" Yellow yelled.

While the Tentacruel had been handing Red the badge case, he hadn't noticed that it was reaching around him with another of its tentacles. Red flinched as the Tentacruel suddenly motioned as if it was going to hit him, but what happened next caught him off guard. The Tentacruel disappeared in a flash of red light and his backpack began to shake. Red pulled his backpack off and set in on the ground, then reached in and pulled out a Pokéball just as it stopped moving. The button on the Pokéball blinked once to show that the Tentacruel had just been caught.

"What?" Red was stunned by this unexpected turn of events. "Did it… did it just catch itself?"

"It must have wanted to join your team." Yellow said. "Maybe because we beat the big one, it wanted to come with us?

"I guess…" Red hooked the Pokéball up to his belt with his other three Pokémon and slipped his backpack back on. "That was weird, but we should get back to going to the Pokémon Center."

* * *

Squirtle and Bulbasaur stared each other down fiercely as they walked away from the campfire so that it wouldn't be in their way. They stopped once they were far enough away from it and stood still for a moment, each waiting for the other to make the first move. After a few seconds, Bulbasaur used Vine Whip on Squirtle, who managed to backflip out of the way of the attack and countered with a Bubble. Bulbasaur waved his vines around to block the attack before it could hit, giving Squirtle enough time to land on the ground and charge towards Bulbasaur, hitting him with Tackle. Bulbasaur braced himself from the impact and was able to hold his ground. The two pressed against each other with all of their strength, neither willing to show any sort of weakness in front of the other. Bulbasaur used Razor Leaf and Squirtle's eyes widened as two leaves shot out from its back. They arced through the air and hitting Squirtle in the back of his shell. Squirtle grimaced from the Super Effective move and Bulbasaur was able to knock him down. Bulbasaur then readied a Vine Whip as Squirtle laid there, seemingly helpless on his back, but then Squirtle retracted into his shell with Withdraw and followed with a Water Gun, hitting Bulbasaur while also using the force of the attack to send himself sliding across the ground away from Bulbasaur.

Squirtle quickly headed towards a tree and looked like he was going to crash, but then he used Tail Whip on the ground, flipping himself over and allowing him to move up the side of the tree and into the branches up above. Bulbasaur sent another pair of Razor Leaves flying up to where Squirtle had disappeared into the treetops but failed to hit him. Squirtle then looked around for any sign of Squirtle's position. A branch shook and Bulbasaur reflexively launched a Razor Leaf at it, cutting it down. As the branch hit the ground, Squirtle jumped down from behind Bulbasaur and hit him with Bubble. The attack wasn't very effective on its own, but it caught Bulbasaur off-guard and gave Squirtle an opening to hit Bulbasaur with another Tackle, flipping the Grass-type onto his side.

Bulbasaur recovered quickly and hopped back from Squirtle. A faint singing could be heard in the distance as the two faced each other. Squirtle prepared to use Bubble again while Bulbasaur raised his vines in preparation to strike. The singing grew louder. Squirtle launched his attack and Bulbasaur countered it. The singing was growing closer. Bulbasaur glanced over towards the campfire where he noticed that Charmander and Zoroark seemed to be drifting off to sleep. His own eyes seemed to be getting heavy as he side-dodged a Water Gun from Squirtle. Squirtle took a step forward and swayed to the side, falling over. Whatever was the source of the singing was now close to them. Bulbasaur got ready to hit Squirtle with a Vine Whip, but the attack never reached its target, instead falling limply to the ground in front of Bulbasaur, who collapsed in execution.

Jigglypuff skipped over from around a tree, singing to her heart's content. She stopped as she saw the four Pokémon lying on the ground in front of her.

The nurse turned as she heard the door to the Pokémon Center slide open and she saw two young Pokémon Trainers walk in. One was a black-haired boy in a red hat and vest, who had a look about him that suggested that he was a more experienced trainer than his age would suggest. The other was a shorter blonde girl who looked like she might be too young to actually be a Pokémon Trainer but was holding an unconscious Pikachu. She recalled seeing the two earlier that day, but they both looked like they had been through a lot since then.

"Welcome to the Porta Vista Pokémon Center." She greeted them as they walked up to her. "Can I heal your Pokémon?"

"Yes." The girl said, holding up the Pikachu.

"Alright then, I'll take your Pokémon for just a moment." The nurse reached down and gently picked up the Pikachu before turning to the Chansey that was standing beside her, holding up a metal tray with a white cloth on it. She laid the Pikachu on the tray and Chansey walked into the back room to heal it.

"I'd like my Pokémon healed as well if that's alright." Said the boy, who placed four Pokéballs on a tray sitting on the counter in front of the nurse.

"Of course." The nurse picked up the tray and placed it inside of the healing machine next to her. The lights on top of the machine flashed a few times and then the nurse took the tray back out and placed in on the counter again. "Here you go."

The boy in the red hat took the Pokéballs and placed them back around his belt. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The nurse smiled. "It may take a bit longer for the Pikachu to recover, though. It's harder to heal a Pokémon outside of its Pokéball."

"Well, we don't actually have a Pokéball for her." The boy said. "She's not actually ours."

"Oh?"

"She saved us." Said the girl. "The least we could do was take her hear to get healed."

"May I ask what happened?" The nurse asked inquisitively.

"It's a long story." The boy sighed. "And a rather unusual one. I'm not sure if I'd even believe it myself if I didn't just live through it."

"Well if the Pikachu is wild or belongs to an unknown owner, then I will need to file a report." The nurse explained. "So you're going to have to tell me anyway."

"Well, it started earlier today, when we left here earlier…"


	107. Chapter 107

Gary heard waves crashing against the land and felt loose sand shift slightly beneath his weight. He found his current situation to be oddly soothing and decided to slowly drift back to sleep, but life had other plans for him that morning. A hand grabbed onto his shoulder and shook him back to his senses.

"Hey, kid! Are you alright?"

Gary slowly opened his eyes, and then closed them again due to the blinding brightness of the morning sun. He slowly opened them again to see the figure of a man crouched down beside him. As his eyes adjusted slowly to the light, he thought for a moment that the man's head was on fire, but quickly realized it was the man's hair, scarlet red and spiked up dramatically. Gary rolled away from the man and quickly rose to his feet.

"Where am I?" Gary asked.

"Cerise Island." The man stood up and looked Gary up and down for any sign of injury. "Although I'm more curious as to _how_ you got here. I had just gotten back here to check up on my Gym when I heard something over here and came to investigate. I found you lying here on the sand and there was something swimming away so fast that I barely caught a glimpse of it."

Gary eyed the man cautiously. In addition to his flame-like hair, the man was wearing a dark purple suit with a cap flowing down his shoulders and down past his knees. This was clearly not a normal person he was dealing with.

"Gym?" Was the only word that stood out to Gary. "So you're a Gym Leader, right?"

"Yeah." The man clearly did not expect that to be what Gary would comment on. "Lance, head of the Kanto Elite Four and Dragon-type specialist. I run the Gym here, though few trainers actually come all the way here to fight me, so I don't really spend much of my time here."

Gary smirked. "Well, then I, Gary Oak, challenge you to a fight!"

Lance sighed and held his right hand up to his face. "Fine. But let's make this quick, shall we? I have other things that I need to do today. Gary Oak, right? If I remember correctly you should have six badges already, right?"

"Seven." Gary corrected him.

"Yes, you've certainly been making your way through the Gyms pretty quickly so far. I don't think you've even had a single loss yet, which is rather impressive. Anyway, the Gym is on top of that volcano at the top of the island. I'll meet you up there for a six-versus-six Gym Battle. Don't keep me waiting."

Gary caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a Dragonite lumbering slowly towards Lance. The Gym Leader ran over to it and hopped on the Dragon-type's back and they flew away to the top of the island's main feature: a large volcano with eight massive pillars of rock jutting out of the sides, almost resembling a set of teeth rising out of the ground to devour it.

"Well, this looks promising." Gary said as he started walking towards the dormant volcano. "Head of the Elite Four, huh. That means he's the strongest Gym Leader in the region. Nice."

* * *

Ash jumped up to his feet with a start. He had just rolled off of the Pokémon Center bed in his sleep, which served as a very effective wake-up call. He looked around and saw Carmine sitting at a small table reading a book, as normal. He turned around to try and find Pika and started to panic when there was no sign of him.

"You're Pikachu is still being cared for." Carmine turned a page. "I just spoke with the nurse a few minutes ago and it looks like they'll still need to watch him for another day or so."

Ash sighed with relief as the events of the previous day flooded back into his mind. He turned away from Carmine as he remembered what happened with the Raticate King so that his expression wouldn't tip Carmine off that something was wrong.

"Well, anyway, since you're up we might as well get going." Carmine set his book down and stood up with a groan. "We ought to be heading home, right Birthday Boy?"

Ash grinned. He had forgotten what day it was. His first birthday since leaving Pallet Town.

"Right!" Ash grabbed his backpack off the floor and marched towards the doorway.

"Forgetting something?" Carmine pointed towards Ash.

Ash looked down at where he was pointing and realized that he was still in his pajamas.

"Right!" He said again as he marched in the opposite direction, towards the bathroom. "After I get dressed!"

"Don't forget to brush your teeth as well." Carmine called after him.

"You sound like my mom!" Ash chided him.

"I used to date your mom." Carmine retorted.

The two stared at each other for a moment of awkward silence.

"I don't know why I just said that." Carmine shook his head absently.

"I'm… just going to go now…" Ash closed the bathroom door, leaving Carmine to himself.

"I mean, it didn't last long." Carmine said to the empty room. "And in the end, she chose Graham over me, but I never held it against either of them and I've always supported them. They are my best friends after all and all I really wanted was for them to be happy and… why am I talking to myself?"

* * *

Red couldn't remember falling asleep but woke up on a couch in the Pokémon Center with Yellow leaning against his arm. He looked down at her and listened to the sound of her breath as the girl slept beside him. They hadn't really known each other for very long and yet somehow it felt as if they had always been together. He felt like she had become the younger sister that he had never had.

That thought passed through his head quite unexpectedly and made Red think for a moment. What would it have been like if he did have a younger sister or brother? He knew it was impossible since his father had left before he was born and his mother couldn't have had another child after him. In fact, he had overheard on at least one occasion that it was a miracle that she had even managed to have him successfully. But what if things had been different…

"Good morning!" The Pokémon Center nurse greeted Red cheerfully once she saw that he was awake.

"Morning." Red gently shifted Yellow off of his arm and rested her head on the armrest of the couch before getting up. He stretched his legs by walking over to the other side of the room and checking the clock hanging up on the wall while Yellow slowly woke up.

"Yesterday feels like a dream." Red said as he walked back to the couch. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Tired." Yellow yawned.

The nurse walked over to the two of them, holding a yellow bundle in her arms that Red didn't recognize at first.

"The Pikachu that you checked in with us last night has made a full recovery." As if to confirm her statement, the Mouse Pokémon raised its head groggily to look around. When the Pikachu's eyes met Yellow's, it froze.

"I'm glad to hear you're alright!" Yellow reached out and the nurse placed the stunned Pikachu into the girl's arms. Pikachu stiffened as she held it, but soon relaxed and seemed almost to melt into her arms.

"If what you told me last night is true, then it's actually quite a surprise that she was able to recover so quickly." The nurse said. "Pikachu are normally able to resist their own electrical energy, but some strong attacks can cause them to hurt themselves, the most notable being their signature move, Volt Tackle. The fact that she used a move so strong she was able to knock herself out like that means she would have had to have used up all of her energy. Something like that would normally take at least a week to fully recover from."

"She's warm." Yellow smiled. "I think I can feel her heartbeat."

Red reached down and petted the Pikachu's head. "So I take it you want to keep her?"

"Yeah!" Yellow looked up at him. "Can I?"

"Of course." Red smiled. "Although she'll need a name."

"Well…" Yellow looked down at it. "How about… Chuchu?"

"Sounds good to me."


	108. Chapter 108

Looker closed his briefcase and stood up from his chair, heading out of his office right as 009 walked up to him.

"Are we going somewhere?" 009 asked him, clearly caught by surprise to see her superior heading out without prior warning.

"No. I have a meeting with someone today that I must get to. You, on the other hand, are to stay here and watch the building."

"But you shouldn't be going anywhere on your own." 009 tried to reason with him. "What if Team Rocket where to ambush you?"

"I will not be traveling alone." Looker corrected her. "Mr. Jaeger and Ms. Masters will be accompanying me. But I want you to stay here and 'hold down the fort' as they say."

009 stared Looker in the eyes. She had the same innocent look to her that she always had, but he could start to see through the façade now. There was contempt hidden behind her gaze as she tried to think of a way to convince him to let her go with him, but she knew he never changed his mind about things like this.

"Very well then." 009 stepped to the side of the hallway to let Looker pass. "I will guard this place to the best of my abilities."

"I can not say for certain how long we will be gone." Looker said as he started heading down the hallway, which 009 following close behind him. "But we should be back by noon."

"Yes, sir."

There was something about 009's tone of voice that made Looker wonder if she suspected that he knew she was working for Team Rocket. In fact, he would have been surprised if she hadn't figured it out by this point. It was only a matter of time before she tried to make a move against him to try and take him out, which is why he was leaving her there while taking Wes and Rui with him. He actually had no plans of returning to the Adonis Detective Agency building again.

Looker reached the front door, where Wes and Rui were waiting for him. He turned back to 009 as he walked outside, to say one final thing to the traitor before he left.

"It will not be much longer before we are able to take down Team Rocket for good. I can assure you that."

009 watched as the other three headed out to wherever it was they were going. Her left eye twitched slightly, the only break in her otherwise flawlessly charming smile. He was taunting her, wasn't he? She knew he knew there was something up with her, but she hadn't realized until now how much he truly suspected. How could she have let him catch on so easily? After all, she wasn't just Tulip Black, some poor orphan with a knack for deception, or even 009, the child prodigy of the International Police. She was Domino, Team Rocket's secret weapon, trained from birth to be the ultimate sleeper agent. There was no that Looker should have been able to find out. He was nothing more than a foolish idiot who couldn't even detect the nose in front of his face without her assistance.

Domino's fists clenched as she turned away from the doors and headed back to her room. What would she do now? Team Rocket was still on its last legs after what happened in Saffron City and she had already gotten reports of a break-in at the Celadon headquarters. There were even rumors that members from throughout the organization were starting to defect.

If only she had misled Looker and Lance back at Mount Moon, which felt like so long ago. She could have easily led them into a trap then. Not to mention it would have stopped them from rescuing those kids from Masque. If Masque hadn't been interrupted back then, she could have taken out Carmine and the Ketchum boy long before he could have ever had the chance to defeat Giovanni in Saffron City.

"Ketchum." She stopped right outside the door to her room and turned around slowly, an idea forming in her head. The boy was from Pallet Town, was he not? Perhaps if she went there, she would be able to find something. Something that would help her to get revenge for the Ketchum boy's disgrace against Giovanni's honor.

* * *

"Hachoo!" Ash sneezed unexpectedly as he and Carmine made their way out of the Indigo Plateau Pokémon Center.

"Oh, don't tell me you're sick too." Carmine grumbled.

"I'm fine." Ash said defensively. "My nose just kind of itched."

"Yeah, whatever." Carmine stretched his arms out and pulled out an Ultra Ball from along his belt. "Let's just get going."

Carmine tossed the Ultra Ball and his Skarmory came flying out and landed on the ground in front of them. Ash called out his Fearow in a similar manner. The two trainers climbed up on the backs of their Pokémon and together they flew away, back home to Pallet Town. The two bird Pokémon were both heavy, Fearow due to its size and Skarmory because of its metal plating, but that didn't stop either of them from being faster than what might be expected just from looking at them. It didn't take long before Pallet Town came into view.

"I can see my house from here!" Ash shouted excitedly.

"Of course you can!"

A few moments later and they were slowing down in preparation to land. It felt weird to Ash, being back home after all this time and everything that he had been through, but here he was. Ash's mom came running out of the Pallet House, waving up at them excitedly. Ash waved back as they reached the ground.

"Hi, Mom!" Ash climbed off the back of his Fearow, only to be immediately tackle-hugged by his mother.

"Oh, Ash! It's so good to see you! How have you been? Have you been eating well? Carmine hasn't been treating you too harshly, has he? You haven't been too warm, have you? Or too cold? Have you been remembering to change your underwear every day?"

Ash gasped for breath as his mother squeezed the air out of his lungs. This wasn't quite the homecoming that he had been expecting.

"Same old Delia." Carmine sighed as he recalled his Skarmory. "Come on, let's get inside. It looks like its going to start raining soon."

* * *

Charmander hadn't woken up feeling so sore in a long time. His entire body ached as if he had been beaten into submission. For a moment he thought he was back with Damian and that everything that had happened since then was nothing more than a dream. But then he opened up his eyes and saw Squirtle and Bulbasaur lying on the ground a few yards away. They looked as beat up as he felt. Charmander sat up slowly and looked around. Zoroark was lying down beside him and was also covered in bruises.

"What happened?" Charmander let out a pained groan and turned around. "Wait, who are you?"

An unfamiliar pink Pokémon stood on top of a nearby tree stump, looking down on him in contempt.

"Who am I?" She yelled furiously. "Well, maybe you would know if you all hadn't had the gall to fall asleep in the middle of my performance!"

"What are you talking about?" Charmander winced as a sudden pain shot down his side.

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'? I was going around the forest, singing my best, when I stumbled across you lot falling asleep during my song." The pink Pokémon scoffed. "Imbeciles like you have no appreciation for the fine arts."

Charmander looked up at the Pokémon in confusion. "But what happened after that? I feel like I got run over by a Rhydon and the others look like they've been beaten up too."

The round puffball glanced to the side with a guilty look on her face. "Um, never mind that." She looked back at him and hopped down to the ground in front of him. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"We stopped here for the night on our way to Cerulean City." Charmander explained. He wasn't quite sure what to make out of this weird stranger.

"That's the human place near here, right?" The Pokémon asked. "Why would you ever want to go there?"

"We want to challenge the Gym there. We're on a quest to enter the Pokémon League and become the Champions."

"I have no idea what any of that means." The pink Pokémon fluffed the tuft of hair falling down just above her big blue eyes. "Can I come with you?"

"Why?" Charmander did not expect that question.

"I don't know. Because."

"Um… I guess."

"Great! My name's Jigglypuff, by the way. Future fairy queen of all existence and the world's greatest musical talent."

"Um…" Charmander wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I'm Charmander…"

"Nice to meet you." Jigglypuff suddenly grabbed Charmander's arm and pulled him in close. "I can already tell that we're going to get along just great. I almost feel bad for beating the living daylights out of you and your friends last night."

"Wait, what?"


	109. Chapter 109

Daisy stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She was so worried about her brother's disappearance that she had hardly been able to get any sleep and it showed. She raised a finger to the bag under one of her eyes and poked it slightly. There was no change. Giselle had suggested using makeup to cover up how exhausted she looked, but Daisy didn't really care for that idea. She was never a fan of makeup, plus she had allergies that made her unable to safely wear it without breaking out anyway, so it wasn't really an option. Not to mention that it would not change the fact that she felt just as tired as she looked, if not more so, which is why she had decided to just stay at the hotel an extra day and see if she could catch at least _some_ sleep.

She turned around and walked back into the empty hotel room. Daisy had already headed out that morning, not wanting to stick around just because Daisy didn't feel up to leaving that morning which meant that she was now traveling alone again. Daisy was used to it by now, but she still missed the company. She also knew that Kat and the others were still in town, which meant that she wasn't completely alone at the moment.

Cleffa bounced around across the floor, trilling happily. Daisy watched the baby Pokémon and decided that she might as well let the others out of there Pokéballs as well. She walked over to the counter where she had placed them and called out her Pokémon one by one. Bulbasaur wandered over to the wall and sat down in the corner where she watched Cleffa play around the room. Butterfree drifted lazily through the air for a moment before she collapsed onto the bed Giselle had slept in the previous night and started snoring lightly. Poliwag rushed into the bathroom and jumped into the bathtub, which he started to fill with his own Water Gun. Vulpix trotted around the room a few times while looking at everyone else with her nose upturned as if she were showing that she was better than everyone else and Farfetch'd started marching back and forth in front of the door leading to the hallway as if he were guarding the room.

After letting out all of her Pokémon, Daisy sat down on the empty bed and fell back. Vulpix hopped up onto the bed after her and curled up by Daisy's feet as she closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

Suddenly Daisy's Pokégear went off, waking her back up again and startling her Pokémon. Daisy sat up quickly, nearly knocking Vulpix off the bed, and reached to pick it up.

"Hello?" Daisy answered the incoming call.

"Hey, Daisy! This is Kat. We've found Gary!"

"Really!" Daisy stood up, excited by the news.

"Well, sort of. We know where he is, at least. Koga just got a call from Lance of the Elite Four saying that he found Gary washed up show on Cerise Island. We don't know what happened or how he got there yet, though, but we do know that he's alright. I'm going to go call him now to see what he has to say, but I thought I'd let you know first."

"Thank you." Daisy replied. "It's really good to know that he's alright."

"Well, anyway, I'll call you again once we know more about what happened. Bye!"

"Bye." Daisy hung up the Pokégear and placed it back on the counter before returning to bed and lying down again. After what felt like forever, she finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ash sat down on the couch in his living room. Everything was exactly as he remembered it and he felt almost like he hadn't even been gone.

"So how have you been?" His mom asked, taking a seat next to him.

"I've been fine." Ash said automatically, then realized that it wasn't exactly true but that he didn't want to make his mom worry about him, so he didn't say anything more.

"You look good. It looks like you've grown a couple inches since you left. Are all of your clothes still fitting alright?"

Ash looked down at what he was wearing. He hadn't noticed it before, but his pants didn't quite reach his ankles anymore and his shirt was a bit tighter than it used to be. He had apparently gained a fair amount of muscle during his travels in addition to the growth spurt.

"I guess these clothes are getting a bit small for me." Ash shrugged.

"I was worried about that." Delia sighed. "You are a growing boy, after all. Fortunately, I've already gotten some new clothes for you to try on. I left them on your bed so that you can try them later when you're ready. I just hope that they fit okay. I just had to guess how much you would grow."

"I'm sure they'll fit fine." Ash said. "Thanks, Mom."

"Oh, and happy birthday!" Delia suddenly got up. "I made a cake for you, but it's too early to get it out yet. We should wait until after dinner. But I'm sure you probably want to start opening your present now, right?"

"You know me too well." Ash laughed.

"Hold on a moment. I'll go get them."

Delia walked into the other room, leaving Ash alone with Carmine, who had situated himself in a recliner over in the opposite side of the room and was staring up at the ceiling. Ash looked over at the pictures hanging up on the wall. There was one from his parent's wedding and one of Ash when he was still just a baby, but Ash's gaze was drawn to a photo of him with his dad that was taken when he was five, shortly before his dad's disappearance. Ash felt his heart sink at the sight. They still had no idea what had happened to him, but Ash had made a promise to himself that he would find him no matter how long it took. He had yet to make good on that promise.

"Here we are." Delia walked back into the room carrying a stack of wrapped boxes, which she placed on the table in front of Ash. "I think you should open this one first."

Ash took the present that his mom was gesturing to and tore off the packaging. The first thing he saw was a Silph Company logo proudly displayed on the corner of the box, which caused Ash to start having flashbacks to when he and his friends had been held hostage by Team Rocket in the Silph building just a few days prior and his battle with Giovanni. He quickly shook the memories out of his head and continued unwrapping the present, revealing what was inside.

"A Pokégear?" Ash held up the box in front of him.

"Yep." Delia smiled. "Now you can call home whenever you want."

"Shouldn't you have gotten him that before he left on his journey?" Carmine asked semi-jokingly, which caused Delia to blush.

"I, uh, meant to…but, uh, I kind of forgot where I put it and couldn't find it until a few days later."

"Wait, so basically the whole reason I've had to run around the entire region for the past few months, getting into all kinds of trouble, was because you couldn't find a stupid box?" Carmine stood up angrily.

Delia stared at Carmine with an awkward smile, unsure of how to respond.

"Whatever." Carmine sighed and sat back down. "I suppose it has been fun, at least for the most part. By the way, I have something for you, too." Carmine reached into his bag and pulled something out. "I didn't wrap it or anything, but I figured that you wouldn't mind."

Carmine tossed the object at Ash, who tried to catch it but didn't quite get a good grip and it fell into his lap. It appeared to be a red and white Pokémon League cap like the one he already wore, though as Ash examined it he noticed that the green emblem above the brim was different. Where his current hat had a stylized L that was shaped like a mountain, this new one had to lines that looked vaguely like Pokéball, though still resembled the letter L.

"I found that at the Pokémon League Gift Shop yesterday and thought you might like it. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to, but I figured that if something happened to your old hat or something, might as well have a spare."

"Thanks!" Ash took off his old hat and put on the new one. It didn't feel like it fit as well as his old one, but that might have just been because it hadn't been worn in yet.

"I think it looks nice." Delia commented.

"Meh." Carmine sat back and folded his arms. "Personally I think the old logo was better. But then again that was the Pokémon League's logo back when I competed, so I guess it's only natural that I'd be partial to it."

Ash took the hat back off and placed it next to his old one. "Let's see what's next."


	110. Chapter 110

"Let's see what you've found." Giovanni said as James, Jessie, Meowth and the Iron-Masked Marauder followed him into a large empty room that appeared to have once been a chapel of some sort.

"A-are you sure." James stuttered as he held up the Ultra Ball.

"Of course I'm sure. Now call it out so that we can get a good look at it."

"I don't think that I will be able to control it." James said hesitantly. "We were barely able to get it contained in the first place."

"Hm, I suppose you do have a point there. We'll hold off on that for now." Giovanni stroked his chin in contemplation and turned to the Iron-Masked Marauder. "In the meantime, I'd like to see how your little side project has been working out. Dark Balls, I believe you were calling them?"

"Yes, sir." The Iron-Masked Marauder grabbed one of the six black orbs embedded into his chest plate and held it out. The small black ball expanded to the size of a regular Pokéball in his hand. "I've managed to convert the Snag Machine technology used by Cipher and their affiliates into a specialized Pokéball design so that they can be used to capture Pokémon that are already under the ownership of a trainer. They can then inject the captured Pokémon with the essence of the Dark Synergy Crystal to convert them into Dark Pokémon. That's why I call them Dark Balls."

"Very good." Giovanni nodded. "You've been working on this project since before you came to work with us, correct?"

"Yes, although I was never able to get them to work properly when I still worked for Cipher. Creating Shadow Pokémon was too large a project to be able to condense into something as small as Pokéball, but the process of creating Dark Pokémon is significantly easier and more streamlined, which is what makes Dark Balls possible."

"That's good to hear. But what about your recent advancements?"

"But you already know about that, sir." The Marauder pointed out.

"I know, but I want you to explain it for the others here."

"Well, while I was working in the Silph Company headquarters, I stumbled across the blueprints for their upcoming Master Ball, a new kind of Pokéball that is guaranteed to capture any Pokémon in only one try. I then reverse engineered the technology and combined it with my Dark Ball designs."

"So what you're saying is that this Dark Ball right here," Giovanni held out his hand to take the Dark Ball prototype from the Iron-Masked Marauder, who handed it to him, "is capable of capturing any Pokémon regardless of circumstance and instantly turn them into a Dark Pokémon."

"At least in theory." The Marauder agreed. "Although I still haven't been able to test it out yet."

"Well, this seems like the perfect opportunity, doesn't it?" Giovanni turned back to James. "Now, call it out."

"What?" James looked taken aback by the command.

"I told you to send out the Pokémon that you captured in the Cerulean Cave. Now."

James gulped and stared at the Ultra Ball in his hand. He knew there was no way to talk Giovanni out of this, so he swallowed his fear and held it out, looking away as he pressed the button. A stream of yellow Pokénergy shot out of the Ultra Ball and condensed in the center of the room into a large, almost humanoid, pale form covered in deep cuts and bruises. The creature crouched down, wincing in pain and sniffed the air sniffed the air, looking around at its surroundings before turning its attention on the humans, a deep-seated hatred burning from behind its purple eyes.

The creature let out a tremendous roar of fury and released all of its energy in a massive wave that sent everyone flying back into the wall. As they fell back to the floor, the creature began to glow slightly and its injuries instantly healed right in front of their eyes. The creature suddenly charged forward, surrounding itself in dark purple energy, ready to attack. Giovanni reacted almost instinctively and a few seconds later, all was quite Giovanni walked calmly to where the Dark Ball had fallen and bent down to pick it up off the floor.

"Well, I'd call that a successful first test. It would appear that the Dark Ball works perfectly as intended. Now, let's give this another shot, shall we? Are mysterious friend here should prove much more cooperative now."

Giovanni turned around and say that the trio of Jessie, James and Meowth had fled the room while his back was turned, leaving only the Iron-Masked Marauder standing there, staring at Giovanni with his jaw slightly askew. Giovanni sighed and walked over to the Marauder before turning around and holding up the Dark Ball. A stream of black Pokénergy shot out and the creature materialized in the center of the room again. The effects of the Dark Ball were instantly recognizable. The creature was even paler than it had been before, almost white except for its tail which was a darker shade of purple than before. The fire of its eyes had died down completely into an ice cold gaze which seemed to pierce right through Giovanni, actually managing to send a shiver down his spine.

" **Why have you brought me to this place?"** The creature asked telepathically.

"So you can speak." Giovanni observed. "That will make this much easier."

" **I asked you a question. I expect an answer."**

"This is simply the place we've decided to stay for the time being." Giovanni looked at the creature with intrigue. "But judging from your reaction it would appear that this place is familiar to you. So tell me, what is this place and what does it mean to you?"

" **This is New Island, named by the scientists who worked here."** The creature explained. **"This is the place where I was created."**

"Interesting. And who are you, exactly? Or should I ask what you are?"

" **The scientists who created me gave me the designation Mewtwo. I am a clone of the Mythical Pokémon, Mew."**

"Very interesting." Giovanni thought of what to ask Mewtwo next. "We were not able to find much information about what this place was actually used for, or what happened to it. I want you to tell me everything that you know."

" **The scientists here had managed to secure a sample of DNA from Mew. The used that DNA to attempt to create a clone of Mew, intended to be the strongest Pokémon to ever live. They created dozens of failed attempts at creating their idea of the ultimate Pokémon, but only three subjects were able to survive the gestation process. The three of us were subject to countless experiments to test out our capabilities. They treated us as nothing more than research experiments, things to be studied only. Once they had finally finished their experiments they had no more use for us, but I could not allow them to dispose of us. They had desired to create the world's strongest Pokémon. I proved that they had succeeded."**

"That is quite the story." Giovanni mused. "But what happened after that."

" **I was separated from the others and went to search for them. But I was still weak from exerting myself and had to seek somewhere to hide while I regained my strength. I settled upon a cave at the base of a mountain where I rested for some time. Once I had fully recovered, I resumed my search but could find no trace of them. Eventually, I returned here to this island and rebuilt the facility thinking that maybe they would return to me there. They did not. I was eventually able to track them down, but they had changed. When I tried to take them with me, they attacked and I was forced to flee back to my cave to recover again. But I was attacked while I was still weak and was brought here before you. Now, I believe it is time that you answered some of my questions."**

Giovanni laughed. "I suppose that would be fair. You have told us quite a lot, so I might as well return the favor. What do you want to know?"

" **I have already asked."** Mewtwo pointed out. **"I want to know why you have brought me back here to this place."**


	111. Chapter 111

There were very few times when Gary would admit that other people were better than him at something. Trying to make his way up the side of a volcano was one of those times. He silently wished to himself as he climbed up the mountainside that he had Ash's Primeape-like climbing ability and then cursing himself for thinking that. He climbed over a ledge and rolled over onto his back. He stared starred up at the morning sky as he tried to catch his breath.

"First thing once I get the chance," Gary said, barely a whisper between deep breaths, "I'm putting a Flying-type in my team so that I don't have to deal with this again."

After he lay there for a few seconds that felt more like hours, Gary suddenly realized that his Pokégear was ringing. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, letting out a groan as he realized just how sore his arm was.

"Hello?" Gary answered the call.

"Finally!" Came a voice from the other end of the line. "We've been trying to get a hold of you all morning!"

"Who is this?" Gary asked weakly.

"Who is… What do you mean 'Who is this?' This is Kat!"

"Right." Gary was so tired that he felt like he could barely think, but he suddenly realized that it was his cousin's voice he was hearing. "What do you want?"

"I want to know where you are, how you're doing! You just disappeared without a trace last night and we heard from Koga who heard from Lance that you're on Cerise Island. How did you get all the way over there? That's basically the middle of nowhere across the ocean! What happened to you?"

"I don't know." Gary mumbled. "I just woke up here. Right now I'm climbing the mountain so that I can challenge the Gym."

"Ugh." Kat sighed. "Of course you are. Well, I guess I'll go over there so that I can pick you up once you're done with that."

"No need." Gary shook his head, even though there was no way for Kat to actually see him. "This is the perfect opportunity to test out Surf with Wartortle. I'll call you when I get back to Kanto and let you know where I am then."

"Fine." Gary could tell that Kat wasn't happy about that decision. "But call the moment you get back. See you then, bye."

"Bye." Gary hung up and put his Pokégear back in his pocket. He stared up and the sky again, and then it hit him. "Wait, Kat could give me a ride up to the top with her Charizard."

Gary pulled out his Pokégear and sat up. He opened up his contacts and was about to call Kat back when the screen went out.

"Oh, no." Gary couldn't believe his poor luck. "The battery just went out, didn't it? Why now of all times?"

He leaned back onto the ground and closed his eyes, resting his arm over his face. He didn't have a choice now; he was going to have to climb up the rest of the mountain.

* * *

"It would appear that this is it." Looker said, looking up from the sheet of paper where he had Professor Oak's address written down and at the large building right in front of him. "This is the place."

"Professor Oak's Research Laboratory." Wes read the sign hanging next to the door. "Yeah, that seems pretty obvious."

Looker shoved the paper into his coat pocket and walked up to the door, Wes and Rui following behind. He knocked a couple times before noticing the doorbell and ringing it. After a few seconds, the door opened.

"Can I help you with anything?" Asked the gray-haired man who answered the door, who Looker recognized as the Professor.

"Yes, I am known as Looker. We spoke over the phone yesterday and we set up an appointment." Looker answered.

"Oh, right. I didn't think you would be here this early." Professor Oak stepped back from the door and motioned for them to come inside.

"I hope that you do not mind that I brought a couple of my associates with me." Looker said as he walked inside, into a large hallway.

"It's no trouble at all." Professor Oak walked over to one of the doors lining the hallway and into the room on the other side. "If you could just wait in here for a bit, I'll go get us some drinks."

"I appreciate your genericity, but there is no need to go through the effort-" Looker started to say as they followed him inside.

"No, no!" The Professor shook his head. "I insist. It's not every day that I have company; this is the least that I can do. Now, does anyone have any preferences? I just put on a kettle of Roserade Tea earlier that should almost be ready and I think I have some sodas in the fridge."

"I'd like a cup of tea, please." Rui said politely.

"I'll take whatever." Wes walked over to a couch and sat down.

"Just water." Looker lowered his head, a little embarrassed. "Danke."

"Alright, I'll be right back."

The Professor left the room, leaving the three of them alone in the drawing room. Rui walked over to the center of the room, where two brown couches were placed facing each other with a black table in between, and sat down next to Wes. Looker sighed and went over to them, sitting down as well. After a moment, Professor Oak returned carrying some cups and with a large Krabby that had a tray strapped to its head that had a tea kettle and a pitcher of water on it. They walked over the table where the Professor put down the cups and took the kettle and pitcher from Krabby, setting them on the table.

"Thank you, Krabby. That will be all for now." The Water-type Pokémon scuttled out of the room and Professor Oak sat down on the couch across from Looker, Wes and Rui. "Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about again?"

"I wished to discuss one of your former students, by the name of Ash Ketchum."

"Oh, yes. That's right." Professor Oak nodded slightly. "Sorry about that, my memory's not quite what it used to be. Anyway, what is it that you want to know?"

"Well, to be honest, I am not entirely sure. I suppose any information that you can give us would be helpful."

Professor Oak eyed Looker suspiciously. "And why is it that you were interested in him, again?"

"His name has come up several times in our investigation of Team Rocket." Looker explained.

"Well, I can assure you that Ash is a good kid who would never get caught up with the likes of them." The Professor said defensively.

"That's not what I meant. We do not suspect him of being in league with Team Rocket. It is quite the opposite in fact. We went to Mount Moon some time ago to investigate some potential Team Rocket activity in the area and ran into a group of people being attacked by a high profile member of the organization. Among them was Ash Ketchum as well as another resident of Pallet Town, Carmine Noir. We briefly met with them afterward and they explained everything that they knew about what was going on. Then, sometime after that, Team Rocket attacked the cruise ship known as the S.S. Anne."

"Yes, I remember that. We were all very worried because there were several kids from our town were on that ship, including two of my grandchildren."

"Yes, as well as Ash Ketchum. It seems odd that he would be caught up in two major events with Team Rocket, but it does not end there. Have you heard the news yet of what happened in Saffron City?"

"Bits and pieces." Professor Oak said. "The media are still trying to piece together what happened, but it sounds like Team Rocket had somehow taken control of the entire city or something like that."

"Yes." Looker confirmed. "Their leader, Giovanni had bought out the Silph Corporation and began using it as a front from Team Rocket. From there, they spread out and quickly took the entire city hostage."

"But I don't see what that has to do with Ash."

"Why do you think that they left?"

"I… I don't know."

"Because they were forced to flee the city after Giovanni was defeated by a Pokémon Trainer."

"You can't mean…"

"I do. That trainer was Ash Ketchum. That makes three times that he has had major run-ins with Team Rocket, even defeating their leader in a battle. That, Professor Oak, is why I am interested in learning more about him. I wish to know what kind of trainer could do that at his age."

"Alright then." Professor Oak sighed. "I guess we should start from the beginning."


	112. Chapter 112

Ash stretched as he walked into his room for the first time in what felt like forever, carrying all of the birthday presents that he had just opened. He set the stuff down on his bed, beside the pile of new clothes that his mom had left there for him, and looked around. Apart from all the stuff on his bed, everything seemed to be exactly as he had left it. Even the alarm clock he knocked off of his dresser the night before he headed out on his journey was still lying broken on the wooden floor, next to his bed. He actually found it surprising that his mom hadn't cleaned it up yet and bent down to pick up the broken clock. He stared at the clock, which was designed to look like a Voltorb, which would open up when the alarm went off to have a model Pidgey pop out. He had had that clock for as long as he could remember and he felt a twinge of pain as he dropped it into the empty trashcan underneath his desk. But his life was at a stage where everything was changing and it was time for him to move on.

"Speaking of changing…" Ash said to himself as he turned back to the bed and walked over to the pile of clothes lying there.

* * *

Red and Yellow walked back into the hospital waiting room to find Bill sleeping in the chair he had been in when they left the night before. Sable was nowhere to be seen, though that didn't really surprise them. They walked up to Bill, who slowly opened his eyes as they approached and sat up groggily.

"Any news on their condition?" Red asked.

"What?" Bill looked around and slowly remembered where he was. "Oh, no, I haven't heard anything yet."

"This is Chuchu!" Yellow held up her new Pikachu excitedly to show Bill.

"Why, hello there." Bill reached out his hand and petted Chuchu lightly on the top of her head. "It's good to see that you're doing better. Thank you for saving us last night. I'm not sure that we could have made it out of that situation without your help."

"Pika!" Chuchu squeaked happily and small sparks fizzled out of her cheeks.

"So I take it you're keeping her with you." Bill looked from Chuchu up to Yellow.

"Yep!" Yellow beamed.

"Well, I hope you both have a great time with each other. Now we just need to wait for the girls to recover and everything will be alright." Bill leaned back in his chair. "You know, if you had told me that last night I wouldn't have believed you."

"I know." Red nodded. "I don't think I've been through anything so terrifying before. I thought for a while that we would be done for."

"It does remind me of something that I wanted to talk to you about, though."

"What?"

"Well, back when we first met, we talked about that giant Dragonite that damaged my lighthouse and the Tyranitar that rampaged through Johto years ago." Bill paused and waited for Red and Yellow to show there acknowledgment. "I've done a bit more research into these kinds of situations and I've learned that there have actually been all kinds of sightings of giant Pokémon throughout history, as well as Pokémon with other unusual features like being a different type than normal."

"You mean like a Water-type Pikachu?" Red asked.

"Yeah, there have been a lot of sightings of a Water-type Pikachu, how did you know?"

"We may have run into one before." Red shrugged.

"Yeah, he was kind of fun. I'll wonder if we'll ever meet him again." Yellow said.

"Oh, right. You did tell me about that." Bill thought for a moment. "Well anyway, I managed to stumble across some research that's already been done on these kinds of things. Apparently, there are official classifications for these unusual Pokémon."

"Really?" Red asked. "What kinds of classifications?"

"Well, there are Alpha Species Pokémon which are just regular Pokémon. Meanwhile, Pokémon that are a significantly different size than normal, such as that Dragonite or the Tentacruel from last night, are called Beta Species. Chuchu here would probably be classified as a Gamma Species Pokémon, which have other physical differences besides size, such as her unusual ear patterns. Next, there's Delta Species, which are different types than normal, like that Water-type Pikachu you met the other day. Finally, there are Epsilon Species Pokémon, which have the traits of both a Delta Species and a Beta or Delta Species Pokémon, or even all three."

"Wow." Red said. "That's interesting. Although according to what you just said, Pikoa would be an Epsilon Species, not a Delta. He had blue marking instead of black and red."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. Anyway, I've actually submitted an application to join a research group currently working on finding out more about these unusual Pokémon and hopefully learn how they come to be. I'm hoping to hear back from them soon."

"Good for you. I hope that everything works out."

"So do I." Bill said. "There are a lot of well-known scientists and researchers working on the project, so if I make it in then it should be a really great opportunity for me to work alongside them and get my name out there in the Pokémon researching community. Who knows, maybe I could even be Pokémon Professor someday."

"I don't know what all of what you just said meant," Yellow said, "but good luck."

Red looked down at Yellow and noticed that the Pikachu in her arms was staring out the window. He turned to see what Chuchu was looking so intently at and say a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, but whatever it was disappeared before he could see it.

"Something wrong?" Bill asked him.

"No, I just thought I saw something."

* * *

Ash looked at his reflection. These new clothes hadn't really changed his look much, but there were some subtle differences. He now wore a plain black t-shirt instead of the dark green one he used to wear all of the time and his jeans had now been replaced by a pair of light blue cargo pants. He wasn't really sure how much he liked this new look yet, but he decided to give it a chance as he put on a new set of gloves that were the same fingerless design only black instead of green, though with the same light green cuffs. He then walked back over to his bed and held up the blue hoodie that his mom had gotten for him. He liked the design, but he decided to set it back down and put on his old jacket. Maybe when the weather started getting colder he would switch to the hoodie, but for now he felt that it would be too warm out for it.

Ash then turned to where he had set down his hats, both his old one and the new one that Carmine had just given him. He picked one up in each hand and looked back and forth between them, trying to decide which one to wear. After a while, he finally decided and put his old hat back on.

"Sometimes you just don't mess with the classics." Ash said as he went back to the mirror to check himself out. "Lookin' good."

Ash then went back to the bed again and knelt down in front of his backpack, which he had left leaning against the bed frame. He started shoving all of his stuff into the bag, leaving out only his new Pokégear, which he held up as slung the backpack over his shoulder and slipped on his new blue and black shoes.

"I suppose I should actually figure out how these things work."

He clicked the various buttons on it to see what they did as he headed out of his room, down to where his mom and Carmine were waiting. On the way, he happened to stop and glance out the hallway window and look outside. The sun shone brightly across the deep blue sky, which dotted only by a few small white clouds in the distance. Something flew out from behind one of the clouds. It looked to Ash almost like some sort of giant bird Pokémon that left a trail of light behind it like a golden rainbow. The sight filled him with a renewed sense of determination.

"I'm going to be the very best, like no one ever was."

"That should be 'like no one has ever been'!" Carmine called from down below.


	113. Chapter 113

"Ash was born exactly eleven years ago, today." Professor Oak said. "In fact, I heard he's visiting his mother today to celebrate his birthday, so you might be able to talk to him yourself after this if you want."

"Yes, that would be nice." Looker nodded. "Thank you for letting us know."

"Anyway, his mother is Delia Ketchum, born Delia Thomas, their family owns a local inn called the Pallet House which expanded into a region-wide chain of hotels. Delia prefers to just run the local Pallet House while she leaves managing the rest of the chain to my son David. Although he's been busy with his duties as mayor so he's been leaving most of the work up to some of the other higher-ups of the company. Ash's father is Graham Ketchum, a professional Pokémon Trainer from the Johto region who moved here to Pallet Town after winning the Indigo League Pokémon tournament over a decade ago now." Professor Oak stared down at the cup of tea in his hands. "He went off to investigate some strange things going on over near Mount Moon about five years ago but never returned. We… still have no idea what happened to him."

"That is sad to here." Looker said solemnly. "I am sure that he must have been a good man."

"He was a very good man." The Professor nodded. "Some would say that he was one of the greatest Pokémon Trainers that Johto has ever produced and he was always doing his best to help people out whenever he could." He looked around at the three people sitting across from him. "There was also something else about him. It somewhat of a secret, but it may be important."

"What is it?" Looker asked, concerned.

"Well, you see…" Professor Oak looked around the room, trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. "Have you ever heard of the Aura Guardians?"

Rui had to refrain from spitting out the mouthful of tea that she was in the middle of drinking. "Wait, what? Are saying he was a Guardian?"

"Yes. I take it from your reaction that you're familiar with them."

"Of course I am, but… there are only ever a small handful of trained Aura Guardian in the entire world. Are you sure he was one?"

"Quite sure." Professor Oak said. "It was not something that he brought up very often but I know for a fact that he was an Aura Guardian."

"Small world, isn't it Ms. Guardian-in-training?" Wes chuckled.

Rui reached into her handbag and pulled out what looked like some sort of old, leather-bound journal. She rifled through it until she found the page she was looking for. "I knew the name Ketchum sounded familiar to me, but I never realized…"

"Wait, are you saying that you're an Aura Guardian as well?" Professor Oak leaned forward, surprised by this unexpected revelation.

"I'm still in training." Rui said nervously. "But someday I will be."

"If his father was an Aura Guardian, does that mean that Ash can also use the abilities of aura?" Looker asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Professor Oak answered. "I honestly don't know."

"Aura abilities normally don't manifest until the early teens." Rui explained. "Generally around 12-13 for girls and around 14-15 for boys. I myself first manifested my abilities just a few months after I turned twelve. There have been known cases of people awakening to their powers earlier than that, but it is almost unheard of."

Looker sat back and thought for a moment. "Back when my team and I encountered Ash and his traveling companion at Mount Moon, he saved them from being attacked by a member of Team Rocket. After the attack, Ash told us that he had seen something strange about the woman and her Vileplume, describing it as if there was some kind of dark energy surrounding them. It was actually that which made me come to the conclusion that Team Rocket had managed somehow to gain access to the Shadow Pokémon once used by Cipher, which in turn is what lead me to seek you out for your aid."

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" Rui asked.

"I am not quite sure." Looker said, closing his eyes and stroking his chin. "But I suppose that is all in the past now, as they say. Let us continue discussing Ash Ketchum."

"Well, there isn't really much else to say, honestly." Professor Oak shrugged. "Ash was a fairly average boy growing up. He was good friends with some of the other kids his age, mostly my grandchildren, Daisy and Gary as well as a boy by the name of Samuel Redwood. After Graham disappeared, Ash started to shut himself off from everyone else, but after a while he started to open up again and returned back to his old cheery self. Although to be honest I don't think he ever truly got over what happened. A few months ago he, my grandkids and Red all graduated and went out on their Pokémon Journeys. The tradition here in Pallet Town is to have a Bulbasaur, and Charmander and Squirtle available for new trainers to choose as their first Pokémon, as is the standard in Kanto. I breed all of them here myself. Although because we had four new trainers this year I decided to go out and catch a wild Pikachu to with them." The Professor chuckled slightly. "And things didn't quite go as I expected them to."

"What do you mean?"

"The way I had it planned was that my grandson Gary would choose Squirtle and his sister Daisy would get Bulbasaur. We have a tradition in the Oak family of giving our children middle names that are related to one of the elements and we generally end up choosing the Pokémon that goes with it. For example, my full name is Samuel Redfire Oak and I chose Charmander as my starter Pokémon. I also assumed that Ash would choose Charmander since his father had the Fire-type Cyndaquil as his starter Pokémon. That would have left Red with Pikachu. He's always shown the most proficiency at Pokémon Training of the group while I taught them and I felt that he would be up to the challenge of training a recently caught Pokémon instead of a bred one. But as it turned out, Ash ended up being late to the ceremony and wasn't able to choose his starter with the others and Red picked Charmander so I ended up giving Pikachu to Ash after it was all over. From what I've heard Ash and Red both get along well with their Pokémon, so I guess it all worked out in the end."

Looker thought for a moment. "I find it interesting that you made your guesses as to what Pokémon they would want based off of family traditions from the patriarchal line."

"Well, I know my grandkids well enough to know that they were planning on following our family tradition when choosing their Pokémon. As for Ash, I was mostly just guessing because he's a lot like his father so I thought that he would choose the same type as Graham had."

"May I ask why did not make a similar guess about Samuel Redwood choosing the same type of Pokémon as his father?" Looker asked.

Professor Oak's hands tightened around his teacup. "We don't talk about that man."

A sudden uncomfortable silence filled the room. Professor Oak looked back down at his tea. After a moment, Looker opened his mouth to say something but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and shutting loudly and heavy footsteps rushed up to the room they were in.

"Alola, cousin!" A man walked in that looked a lot like the professor, though slightly younger with darker skin and longer hair. He wore a pair of purple sandals, white cargo shorts and a blue button-up shirt depicting several blue Water-type Pokémon. "How are you doing?"

"Samson?" Professor Oak nearly spilled his tea as he stood up. "I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow!"

"You thought wrong, apparently." Samson Oak laughed. "Did I catch you at a bad time? I can go wait in the other room."

"We were just getting ready to leave." Looker stood up and started heading towards the door. Wes and Rui followed after him. "Thank you for the information, Professor. You were a great help."


	114. Chapter 114

Ash walked back into the living room, where his mother and Carmine were waiting for him.

"How do I look?" He asked.

"You look great, honey!" His mom got up from the couch and rushed up to him. "Everything fits alright, right? I didn't know how much you would grow and I wasn't sure if it would all be the right size."

"It's fine." Ash reassured his mom. "Everything fits."

"Good." Delia sighed with relief. "Oh, and before I forget, Professor Oak wanted to see you. He said that had something that he wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay. I'll head over there now." Ash started to head towards the front door but stopped as he walked by Carmine.

"What?" Carmine asked as Ash stared at him expectantly.

"Never mind." Ash started walking towards the door again. He had gotten so used to Carmine going with him everywhere that it felt weird leaving without him. "Bye, Mom! See you later!"

"I love you!" Delia cried after him as Ash walked out the door. Tears started to run down the sides of her face after he closed the door behind him. "He's grown up so much."

"I suppose so." Carmine said, getting up from his chair and walking over to Delia. "It's amazing how much the kid reminds me of Graham sometimes."

"I'm not really sure what to feel right now. I know I should be proud of the man he's becoming, but a part of me is worried that he's growing up too much. My little boy isn't a little boy anymore, but I'm not ready to let him go yet."

Carmine put his hand comfortingly on Delia's shoulder and smiled at her reassuringly. "I can't say that I can really understand what you're going through right now. But I do know that everything is going to turn out fine. Ash is his father's son, after all. He's a skilled trainer who can overcome any challenge that life throws his way. But more than that he's also _your_ son and while he may not always show it I've seen that he's inherited the best of you, like you're ability to stay calm no matter how hard things get. Ash is the product of two amazing parents and is on his way to becoming more than the sum of his parts."

"Thank you, Carmine." Delia smiled.

"No matter how much doubt you feel, just remember; everything changes. Changing all the time, playing with your mind, modified or re-arranged, everything has got to change."

Delia wiped a tear from her cheek as she stared at him blankly.

"Part of a song." Carmine explained. "Gets stuck in my head a lot."

Delia's smile widened and she pulled Carmine into a hug, crying into his chest. Carmine placed his left arm around her back and rested his right hand gently on her head, staring up at the ceiling. There was a part of him that yearned for days long past, to return to how things had been when they were younger. But he couldn't. She was Graham's wife. He could never forget. She had chosen him all of those years ago and doing anything now wouldn't be fair to anyone, least of all her.

The moment ended. Delia and Carmine pulled away from each other and everything suddenly returned to normal. That quite whisper of a love long past faded away into the present reality, one where they were close friends, but nothing more.

"I'm… I'm going to go check on my place. I'm sure everything's probably coated in dust by now."

"Yes." Delia blushed. "It has been a while since you've been home."

* * *

Ash made his way across Pallet Town as he made his way to Professor Oak's laboratory. It felt like every step he took was a trip down memory lane. There was Gary and Daisy's house, with its perfectly kept lawn surrounded by a white brick wall with an ornate black iron gate. He and his friends would always race to see who could get from one end of their property to the other the fastest. Over in the other direction was the Pallet House. His mom made him help out around the place so that he could become more responsible. He always found it boring, at least until Daisy started working there after school. She always managed to make work more fun.

Ash went a little further and walked by Red's house. The old tire swing hanging from the tree in the front yard was still there. Ash smiled as he remembered all the countless times he would come over so that he and Red could work on their homework together. They would often stay up late talking about Pokémon. Ash briefly considered stopping by to say hello to Ms. Redwood but realized that she would probably be at work at the grocery store right then.

Ash walked by the stream where he and Gary would fish. They always thought of it as a large river that was filled with rare Water-type Pokémon just waiting for them to catch. One time they both got a bite at the same time and each tried to reel there's in before the others, but it turned out that they had both snagged a broken Pokéball drifting down the stream. Even after they found that out, they still fought over who would actually keep the old thing and ended up breaking it in half. Ash paused and reached into his backpack, pulling out his half of the Pokéball. It had chipped and faded over the years, the white becoming more of a light gray over time. He knew it was nothing more than a piece of trash that should have been thrown away a long time ago, but he could never bring himself to get rid of it. In his mind, it had become something of a good luck charm and a symbol of his rivalry with Gary. He was sure that Gary probably hadn't kept his half, but somehow that didn't seem to matter.

Finally, Ash made his way to the lab, built on a hill overlooking the rest of the town. He walked up the steep driveway leading up to the lab. On the way, he was surprised to see a group of people walking towards him. There was a middle-aged man with short, dark brown hair wearing a tan trench coat. Ash thought that he recognized the man but couldn't quite place where he had seen him before. Behind that man were two other people. One was a young, gray-haired man in a dark blue coat and some sort of metal visor resting on his head. The other was an orange-haired young woman that reminded Ash of Misty, though she was a few years older and had two ponytails rather than Misty's one.

"Ash Ketchum." The man in the brown coat said as they got closer. He seemed to have a slight accent that Ash couldn't identify but was sure he had heard before. "What fortunate timing, you are just who we wanted to see."

"Do I know you?" Ash asked, puzzled.

"Ah, right. It would seem that you do not remember me." The man shook his head. "Though we have only met once, so it is not that surprising. My name is Looker, we spoke briefly after your run-in with an agent of Team Rocket in the tunnels of Mount Moon some time ago."

"Oh, right." Ash said as he remembered the events of that day. "I remember you now. But…"

"Lance is attending to some business at his Gym and 009 is, well, let us just say that she is at the office." Looker explained, knowing what Ash was just about to ask. "These are my other associates, Rui Masters and Wes Jaeger."

"What, don't we get codenames?" Wes asked sarcastically.

"Please forgive this Grumpig-head's attitude." Rui gestured towards Wes, then gave a polite curtsy. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hello." Ash felt a bit awkward and decided to return the curtsy with a slight bow, but that just felt even more awkward. He then turned his attention back to Looker "So what did you mean when you said you wanted to talk to me? Did something happen?"

"You could say that." Looker nodded solemnly. "What we actually wanted to know was what has happened with you. We have heard rumors that you have had more encounters with Team Rocket since we last met and I wish to hear from you what occurred in those situations."

"Uh…" Ash couldn't quite tell what Looker was trying to say."

"He means we want you to tell us what happened on the S.S. Anne, what happened in Saffron City the other day and any other run-ins with Team Rocket you may have had." Rui clarified.

"Oh, okay. I'm not really sure how you knew I was in Saffron, though."

"We have our resources." Looker said. "But we still don't know everything that happened. Which is why we want to hear what you have to say."


	115. Chapter 115

Gary finally managed to make his way to the top of the volcano. He pulled himself up over the rim and collapsed onto the ground, trying to catch his breath. Once he had regained the strength needed to get back up again, Gary stood up and walked over the Gym, which was practically right in front of him.

The interior of the Cerise Island Gym was dark, with purple torches lining the walls being the only source of light. The main room had a gothic feel to it that Gary found rather disconcerting. He walked around looking for Lance, but he was nowhere to be found. Gary decided to turn around and walked back to the entrance, where he noticed an open door leading into a side room that was properly lit. Gary peered inside to see Lance sitting at a desk going over some paperwork.

"Hello?" Gary said hesitantly.

Lance looked up from the document he was reading. "It's about time you got here. I was starting to get worried."

Lance set down the paper and stood up. Gary backed away from the doorway as Lance walked over to him.

"I'm sure I don't have to go over the rules with you, so we're just going to get straight to the battle."

Gary and Lance both walked over to their places and faced each other. Once they were in position, they sent out their first Pokémon and the battle commenced. Gary's Raticate stood ready to strike while Lance's Dratini snaked its way across the floor. As the blue Dragon-type got close to Raticate, it suddenly lunged forward and used Wrap to coil itself around Raticate and squeezed tightly. It was hard for Raticate to move, but he managed to bite into Dratini using Super Fang. The attack forced Dratini to release its grip and slink away from Raticate. Raticate didn't let Dratini retreat very far before he used Quick Attack to catch up to and hit Dratini, then immediately followed it up with a Hyper Fang. Dratini let out a pained noise that Gary wasn't sure how to describe and turned around to face Raticate. Dratini jumped up into the air as its head began to glow a light blue. The glow spread to the rest of its long, snake-like body as it dove back down, slamming straight into Raticate with Dragon Rush. Raticate took heavy damage from the attack but was able to hit Dratini with a Sucker Punch before it was able to strike him again. Dratini tried to spin around and hit Raticate with a Dragon Tail, but Raticate caught Dratini's tail in his mouth and used Crunch. This proved to be too much for Dratini, who couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.

"That's what you get trying to use an unevolved Pokémon against me." Gary bragged.

"Unfortunately I don't really have much choice." Lance said as he recalled his Dratini. "The current Pokémon League rules state that Gym leaders cannot use more than one of the same Pokémon in a team, all Pokémon in our official teams must be of the type we specialize in and that all of the Pokémon in our official teams must be from within the borders of the League we are a part of. In the case of the Indigo League that means from either the Kanto or Johto regions depending which side the league we're on as well as the Orange Archipelago and the Sevii Islands. Unfortunately for me, there are only a small handful of Dragon-type Pokémon species available within this area. In fact, some trainers think I cheat because a couple of the Pokémon I use are so rare here. For example, my next Pokémon was caught as part of a flock that only stay in the Sevii Islands for a few months out of the year."

Lance threw his next Pokéball and a blue and white Pokémon with cloud-like wings flew out. The Altaria glided in a circle around the room before landing in front of Lance. Gary's Raticate charged towards Altaria, but Altaria simply flew up out of Raticate's range. Raticate used Focus Energy, readying itself so that it would be more likely to get Altaria with a critical hit. Altaria didn't give Raticate a chance to hit it, however, as the Humming Pokémon used Dragon Breath to engulf Raticate in purple flames. By the time the fire died out, Raticate had been defeated.

Gary sent out his Nidorino next. The Poison Point Pokémon stood its ground and used Focus Energy. Altaria dove down to hit Peck. Nidorino used Poison Sting right as Altaria was about to hit him, poisoning Altaria and forcing it to fly up again. Altaria opened its beak and fired a Dragon Pulse from its mouth. The purple energy blast struck Nidorino and knocked him into his side. As Nidorino tried to get back to his feet, Altaria fired another Dragon Pulse which knocked out.

"I expected you to put up more of a fight." Lance said as Gary recalled his Nidorino.

"The battle's barely started." Gary replied, sending in his Growlithe. "You haven't seen my full strength yet."

Altaria dove towards Nidoqueen with Peck, but Nidoqueen was able to grab Altaria's cloud-like wings and began to glow blue as she used Superpower. Let go of one of Altaria's wings and used her free hand to punch Altaria in the face with as much force as she could, knocking Altaria out.

Lance sent out a Dragonair as his next Pokémon. The Dragon Pokémon coiled around itself in the air, then suddenly lashed out, smacking Nidoqueen in the face with Aqua Tail. Nidoqueen stumbled back from the hit, then changed and hit Dragonair with Superpower. Dragonair was knocked to the ground, but quickly recovered and spun around quickly to create a Twister. The attack hit Nidoqueen and left her open for Dragonair to Slam into her, knocking her out.

Gary grimaced as he realized that he was actually starting to lose this battle. He sent out his Exeggcute next but wasn't sure how much it would actually be able to do. Dragonair flew up high and engulfed itself fiery blue energy as it prepared to us Dragon Rush, diving down and hitting Exeggcute at full force. With just the single hit, Exeggcute was down and Gary was forced to send out his Growlithe. Gary was in serious trouble now, down to his last two Pokémon while Lane still had four. But he wasn't going to give up yet.

Growlithe used Flame Burst and a pillar of fire shot forth from his mouth. The attack hit Dragonair, who seemed to ignore the attack almost completely and retaliated by hitting Growlithe with an Aqua Tail. Growlithe was barely able to hold himself upright after the blow, but still had enough power for another attack. Growlithe rammed into Dragonair using Reversal, but it wasn't enough. Dragonair hit Growlithe with another Aqua Tail and the Puppy Pokémon lost consciousness.

Gary couldn't believe it. He only had one Pokémon left and yet he hadn't even managed to take out half of Lance's Pokémon. That shouldn't have been possible. This should have been an easy battle that Gary would have won without any effort, yet things weren't going even remotely how he thought they would.

"Let's show him what you've got, Wartortle!" Gary yelled with as much forced enthusiasm as he could muster.

Wartortle leapt out of his Pokéball and assumed a ready stance. A moment later he was flat on the ground, defeated by Dragonair's Thunder.

"W-what?" Gary dropped to his knees, utterly defeated.

"You know, I actually thought you stood a chance." Lance said. "I'm actually surprised how week your team was for someone who already has seven badges. I guess you should stop rushing and actually focus on your training."

Lance walked up to Gary and pulled him up to his feet. "There's a machine you can use to heal your Pokémon over in the other room. I'll show you where it is, but I'll have to go after that. I have other things that I need to do."

Gary recalled his Wartortle and followed Lance. He still couldn't quite process what just happened. He was Gary Oak. How could he lose a battle so terribly? He knew Dragon-type Pokémon were supposed to be strong, but Lance's team was still restricted by the limits of the Pokémon League regulations, which meant that he still should have been able to win. And if he did so badly here, what would it be like in the actual Pokémon League? Gary thought that he was already as strong as he needed to be, but now he knew that he was going to have to become much, much stronger to reach his goals.


	116. Chapter 116

"And then we left Saffron City and met up with Sabrina before we went to the Indigo Plateau, which is where Carmine and I have been until this morning." Ash finished his explanation of what had happened since his last meeting with Looker.

"Hmm…" Looker considered everything that he had been told. "That is quite a lot for a boy of your age to have to go through. I am sorry to hear how involved you have gotten in this mess."

"Life's life, I guess." Ash shrugged. "I managed to get through it all and I guess now I'm stronger for it or something. I don't really know, I just want to move on."

"That is fair." Looker nodded and held his hand out to Ash. "I am sorry for taking up so much of your time, but know that what you have told us here is important. Now, I believe that is all we need from now but we would appreciate it if you could stay in the area for the rest of the day in case we need anything else from you."

"That was already the plan." Ash said as he shook Looker's outstretched hand.

"I'd like to talk to you about something as well later when you get the chance." Rui piped in as Looker's group started to walk away. "About what you saw in the Silph building. I know it can be hard when your powers first star to manifest, but I think I can help you through it."

It took Ash a moment to process what she was telling him. He turned around and was about to say something, but they had already turned the corner in the driveway and disappeared behind a row of trees. Ash decided to turn back towards the lab and continue on his way, figuring that he could ask her about it later.

* * *

Gary stood around in Lance's office. When he had mentioned to Lance that his Pokégear's battery had died on the way up, Lance agreed to let him charge it there. Lance sat at his desk, going over more paperwork. Gary felt kind of awkward standing there and looked around a bit.

"You seem to be pretty busy." Gary observed. "I don't think my dad even has this much work to do and he's the mayor."

"Being a Gym Leader is more work than it seems." Lance replied without looking up from the paper he was going over. "Especially when you're in charge of overseeing all of the other Gym Leaders in the region. Not to mention all the work I have to deal with as a member of the Board of the Pokémon League and now I'm working with the International Police on the Team Rocket case. I'm not even sure why I volunteered for that when I already have so much to do. And even all of that pales in comparison all of my responsibilities as the patriarch of my tribe."

"What?" Gary didn't quite understand that last part.

"I come from the Blackthorn tribe of Dragon Tamers." Lance explained. "My grandfather was the patriarch of the tribe and when he passed away a little over a year ago that title was passed down to me. Now I have to deal with every little thing that happens to anyone in my entire extended family back in Johto." Lance held up the paper he just finished reading. "You see this? One of my second cousins wants to marry someone from outside of the tribe, which means that I have to approve it and then I'm going to have to officiate the wedding. And I don't remember ever even meeting this guy before!"

"That sounds rough." Gary wasn't quite sure why Lance was telling him this.

Lance sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to vent at you like that. It just all gets to me sometimes. I don't think it would bother me so much, except that I never even wanted the position. The title of patriarch is normally passed down to the oldest son of the previous patriarch, but my father died when I was a child which meant that it skipped straight to me. And I already had my job here as a Gym Leader and had just been appointed as head of the Elite Four, meaning that I just got put in charge of a family I hadn't been around in years when I already had a lot of responsibility. Although it isn't all bad. There's this one sweet little girl from another tribe who writes to me a lot wanting to know about how out customs and traditions. Reading her letters always puts a smile on my face and it's knowing that I help people like her that makes it all worth it."

Gary checked his Pokégear. "Well, it looks like I'm done charging and I don't want to take up any more of your time."

"Alright." Lance said, setting down his papers and standing up. "I'm sure you didn't need or want to hear about my problems, but thank you for listening to me. I'm sorry if I may have been a little rude to you earlier. You're a good trainer and I think you have a lot of potential, I just think you need to spend a little more time training your Pokémon."

"It's alright." Gary was a little surprised to hear himself say that. "You're probably right. Is it okay if I stay on the island to train for a while?"

"Knock yourself out." Lance stood up and headed towards the door. "There's a serious of old lava tubes running through the mountain filled with wild Pokémon that I use to train sometimes. There's an entrance just on the other side of the mountain from where you came up. I'd show you the way but I have to meet up with an associate and I'm already running late."

"Thanks for the advice." Gary said as he headed towards the exit.

"I look forward to our rematch."

* * *

Ash opened the door to the lab without knocking and walked inside. He walked down the hallway and stopped at the doorway into the living room. He could see the professor sitting on a couch talking to someone who he couldn't see from that angle. Professor Oak happened to look up just then and waved Ash into the room.

"Hi." Ash said weekly, feeling like he was interrupting something. "My mom said that you wanted to see me."

"Yes, I had something that I wanted to give to you. But before that, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin who's visiting from the Alola region."

The man who Professor Oak had been talking to stood up and turned to face Ash. Ash was surprised to see that he was nearly the spitting image of the professor apart from his tanned skin and long hair.

"Alola!" The man said, waving his arms in an unfamiliar gesture. "My name's Samson Oak, but you can just call me Samson."

"Hello." Ash waved. "I'm Ash."

"I'm going to get your present." Professor Oak said as he headed towards the far door and stepped out. "Now where did I leave it?"

"The last time I saw you, you were only around this big." Samson lowered his hand to his knee. "My, how you've grown since then."

"Yeah." Ash felt a bit awkward being left alone with this stranger who apparently must have known him when he was little, but that he had no recollection of.

"I hear it's your birthday today and that you're turning eleven."

"Yeah."

"We have a tradition in Alola where children who turn eleven go around the islands, going through various trials and battling the captains and Kahunas. It's kind of like the Pokémon League you have here in Kanto, though with a few differences." Samson said as he reached a hand into his pocket.

"That's interesting." Ash said.

"I want you to have this." Samson pulled his hand out of his pocket and held up some sort of white bracelet. "We call these Z-Rings. They're normally only given to those who go through the Alolan challenge."

Ash took the Z-Ring from him and put it on his right wrist. "Thank you."

"As trainers go through their island challenges they collect Z-Crystals, which can be used with the Z-Ring to allow Pokémon to use powerful moves. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those to give you. You'll have to go to Alola and earn them yourself if you want to collect any."

"That's cool." Ash said enthusiastically. "I guess I need to consider going there once I've beaten the Pokémon League."

"You should." Samson laughed. "Z-Rings can also be used to Mega Evolve Pokémon if you have the appropriate Mega Stone. I wouldn't recommend it though. Without a Mega Stone to collect the access energy created by Mega Evolution the results can be quite… unpleasant and dangerous for both the Pokémon and those around it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ash had no idea what Mega Evolution was, but at least he now knew to avoid it. At least unless he managed to get a 'Key Stone', whatever that was.

"I'm back." Professor Oak announced as he reentered the room, carrying a Pokémon egg incubator with a large silver egg inside of it. "Found this egg in my breeding area not too long ago but I'm not really sure where it came from. I thought that you might be interested in raising whatever's inside."


	117. Chapter 117

Red, Yellow and Bill walked into a hospital room with six beds, five of which were occupied. Misty sat up in one of the beds when she saw them.

"Red? Yellow? What are you doing here?" She asked groggily.

"We came to see how all of you were doing." Red explained. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Not really." Misty winced and grabbed her forehead with one of her hands. "I remember diving down under the water to search for the S.S. Anne and then… nothing."

"We were attacked by something down there." Said the red-headed woman who was in the opposite bed from Misty. "The doctor said that you were the ones who checked us in here, would you care to explain what happened?"

"You are you?" Red asked the woman.

"I am Lorelei, of the Elite Four."

"Oh, well…" Red thought of where he should start his explanation. "We were hired to stop whoever was trying to sabotage an offshore construction site. It turned out to be a group of Tentacool trying to defend their habitat from being destroyed, then a giant Tentacruel showed up and attacked. It had the five of you held captive, but then this Pikachu here showed up and managed to defeat it, rescuing you and saving us."

Red pointed at Chuchu, who Yellow still had in her arms and lifted up for everyone to see.

"Well, that certainly is an interesting story." Lorelei mused. "But is there any chance of this giant Tentacruel coming back?"

"I don't think so." Red said. "But I can't really say for sure."

Lorelei closed her eyes and looked contemplative. After a moment, she opened them again and spoke. "Thank you for your help. All of you. I do not know what would have happened if you hadn't rescued us, but it likely would have been the end of us. We owe all of you are lives. I'm going to let the other's know what happened and we'll place a watch to see if anything else happens."

"You're welcome, I guess. We didn't really do much of anything, though. Chuchu's the one who really deserves the credit."

Lorelei turned her gave to the Pikachu that Yellow was still holding up. "Thank you. We might not still be here if it were not for you."

"Hey, I've seen you before." Red turned around to see a pink-haired girl in one of the other beds, who Red recognized as Lily. "Didn't I fight you back at the Cerulean Gym a while back?"

"Yeah." Red nodded. "That was when I got my second Gym Badge."

"Well, it's good to see you again, I guess." Lily said. "These aren't exactly ideal circumstances though."

"Yeah, I guess not."

Red looked around. The blue-haired and blonde girls were still unconscious and even the Gym Leaders who were awake still seemed to be in relatively bad shape. Misty had a dazed look on her face like she was having trouble taking in her surroundings. Red wondered if she might have sustained some kind of concussion from what happened.

He also noted that Bill had gone up to the blonde girl's bed and had been kneeling beside it the entire time they were there. He was looking at her with a loving sense of tenderness and wiped her hair out of her face. It was clear that Bill knew her and from the looks of it they must have been close.

"You're all going to be fine, right?" Red asked no one in particular.

"That's what the doctor said, at any rate." Lorelei responded. "There shouldn't be any lasting damage and we should all be ready to leave in a day or two."

"That's a relief." Red sighed. "Things could be a lot worse right now."

* * *

Pikoa swam through the ocean to the eastern shore of Kanto. He had felt a disturbance there earlier but was too caught up dealing with the King of Pokélantis to check it out earlier. At last, he reached the source of the disturbance and slowed to a stop. There did not seem to be anything there at first, but he looked around and found it down below. A gigantic Tentacruel sprawled out along the sea floor, completely unconscious.

"Kracruel?" Pikoa uttered in astonishment at the sight. "Well, that's certainly not where I last left you. I wasn't expecting you to wake up for another hundred years or so after that beating I gave you last time you tried to wipe out humanity. Though fortunately, it looks like someone else managed to get to you while I was busy. I wonder who could have done this two you." Pikoa shrugged. "Oh, well. At least this means I won't have to deal with you again for a while. That would be the last thing I need right now, considering everything that's been happening lately."

Pikoa turned around and was about to leave when a glimmer of yellow light from down below caught his eye. He swam down to where he had seen it and navigated between Kracruel's massive tentacles to find whatever it was. Finally, he found it nestled between a couple of rocks, where it had fallen.

"Well, that is interesting." Pikoa said in surprise. "I haven't seen one of these in very a long time. I think I'll go ahead and take it with me. You never know when it could come in handy."

* * *

Ash returned home to find his mom in the kitchen fixing dinner.

"Welcome back." She said as she looked up when he walked in. "What did the Professor want?"

"He gave me this." Ash held up the incubator he was carrying.

"Oh, that's nice." Delia set down the food she was preparing and went up to get a closer look at it. "Do you know what it's going to hatch into?"

"The professor wasn't actually sure. He said he wanted to give it to me because he knew that I'd be up to the challenge of raising whatever it ends up being."

"Well, I'm sure he's right about that." Delia smiled and looked up at Ash. "Dinner will be ready in just a minute, so why don't you go get ready."

"Okay."

Ash turned and headed over the staircase. He went up to the second floor, down the hall and into his room. He went over to his bed and knelt down to put the incubator into his backpack, which he had left sitting on the hardwood floor. Once it was safely inside, he slung the backpack over his shoulder and stood back up. He turned around to head back out, but took a step back instead and fell onto his bed.

Down below, Delia heard a knock on the door just as she was setting the table. She stopped what she was doing and went to answer it. She was surprised when she opened it up to see a man she recognized as one of the International Police officers that worked to take down Team Rocket all of those years ago, as well as a young man and woman she did not recognize.

"Can I help you with anything?" She asked.

"Good evening, madam." Looker gave a polite nod. "I am Agent Looker and these are my associates Wes and Rui. We were wishing to have a word with your son."

"Come in." Delia stepped away from the door and held her arm out towards the living room. Looker, Wes and Rui walked inside and Delia closed the door behind them. "He just went to his room upstairs. It's the last door on the left."

"Thank you." Looker nodded again. "We promise we won't take up too much of your son's time. I just have a few follow-up questions from what he told us earlier."

Looker headed up the staircase with Wes and Rui close behind. The walked down the hallway and turned into the open door at the end into Ash's room. There was someone standing in the center of the room, facing away from the door, but it certainly wasn't Ash.

"009!" Looker said as the blonde girl slowly turned around to face them. She wore a crazed smile on her face. It was the kind of expression that Looker always hoped that he would never have to see it again. And yet it was one that he saw far too often. "What did you do with the boy? Where is Ash?"

"Gone."


	118. Chapter 118

"Do you guys mind if I stay here?" Bill asked Red and Yellow as the trio walked out into the hospital hallway.

"Not at all." Red replied. "Why?"

"I don't feel right leaving until Daisy gets let out. It's been fun hanging out with you two, but it looks like this is where we'll be parting ways for now."

Bill held out his hand, which Red shook. They said their goodbyes to each other before Red and Yellow walked away, leaving Bill.

"I'm going to miss him." Yellow said as they made their way to leave the hospital.

"Me, too. He was only with us for around a day, but I got used to having him around."

"Hey, what happened to Sabubble?" Yellow asked.

"You mean Sable?" Red thought for a moment. "I'm not sure."

"I'm right here."

Red and Yellow both jumped in shock before turning around to see Sable standing right behind them.

"How long have you been there?" Red wondered aloud.

Sable smirked. "So where are we off to next?"

Red stared at the purple-haired woman, but it became quickly apparent that she wasn't going to answer his question. "I don't know. I guess maybe we should try heading back to Celadon and then make our way south to Fuchsia City. Or maybe Saffron City if the way is finally open."

"It is." Sable replied.

"How do you know that?" Yellow asked her.

"I saw it on the news." Sable shrugged. "Apparently some group calling themselves Team Rocket was the ones behind the city's closer. I didn't get any more information than that, though."

"Team Rocket?" Red couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How could they have shut down an entire city like that?"

Sable shrugged again. "I already told you everything that I know."

Red sighed. "Well, I guess we should be heading out now. Yellow, can you have Abraham use Teleport to take us back to Celadon?"

"Yep!" Yellow pulled out a Pokéball and sent out her Psychic-type. The Abra sat, floating in midair for a moment before everything went white for a second and they were all standing in the middle of the street outside the Pokémon Center in Celadon City.

"Teleporting truly is the most efficient means of travel." Sable mused. "I don't know how we would get along without it."

"The same way everyone else does, I guess." Red said. "By foot."

"That just seems so primitive by comparison." Sable replied. "It takes forever and there are all kinds of things that could go wrong while you're going from one place to another. When was the last time anyone ever had any major incidents happen while using Teleport?"

* * *

It all happened so fast that it took a moment for Ash to process what just happened. One moment he was in his room when he turned around and saw that one girl who worked with Looker alongside her Alakazam. The next moment, he was here, falling through the air at dizzying speeds towards the hard, unfriendly ground far, far below him. He was practically winded by the sheer force of the air as he plummeted down. He just let it happen, at first, too stunned by the shock to react. After a moment, however, he finally started to act.

"Fearow!" He called as pulled out the Pokéball that the large Beak Pokémon was in. The giant brown bird flew out of its Pokéball and dove down below Ash so that he fell hard onto its back. Ash felt like he may have broken a rib or something in the impact, and Fearow let out a caw of pain as well. Despite this, Fearow was able to safely slow their descent enough for Ash to make out his surroundings.

Ash spotted a city in the distance. Ash recognized the Silph Company building among its massive skyscrapers, the roof of which hadn't been repaired from the damages in his battle with Giovanni. He knew that city must be Saffron and in another direction, he saw a port city that must have been Vermilion. Based off of their positioning, Ash deduced that they were somewhere in the air above Route 12 or Route 13. Ash tried to guide Fearow towards Vermilion City, but it was no use. The only way they could go was straight down.

Ash waited until they were close enough to the ground and then called Fearow back into his Pokéball so that the Flying-type Pokémon wouldn't get even more hurt when they hit the ground. This caused Ash to return to a freefall straight into a tree. He tumbled through the branches and fell out where his fall was broken by a large bush. Ash felt like a Muk's lunch as he rose to his legs. His arms were covered in scratches and scrapes and he felt that his face must have been in similar condition. His brand new pants were now filthy, though he didn't really care much about that at the moment.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Pokégear he had just pulled out that morning. He went to dial home to let his mom know what happened but quickly made a bad discovery. He hadn't actually set up the Pokégear yet, which made it borderline useless for him.

"Well, this is just great." Ash sighed as he limped over a large rock nearby and sat down on it. "Well, I just need to keep calm and not panic. I'll think of a way out of this situation. Yeah, all I have to do is make to the nearest town. Vermilion City's nearby. I just need to go…"

Ash looked around and realized that he had lost track of where he was during the fall. He couldn't actually remember which way the city was and he had ended up in the middle of the woods, nowhere near a pathway or road that he could follow.

"Just keep calm." He repeated to himself as he started taking deep breaths. "Don't panic."

Suddenly, Ash felt something lift from his head and he looked up to see a Mankey hanging down from the tree above him, holding his hat.

"Hey!" Give that back!" Ash sprung to his feet and jumped up to snatch the stolen hat back from the Mankey, but the Mankey just swatted his face with a Scratch attack. Ash's face already stung and this just made it much worse, but he didn't give up. He jumped and reached for it again, but the Mankey swung up by its tail and jumped away into another tree and then another. Soon it was out of sight.

Ash slumped down to his sour knees and did his best not to cry. Everything about his current situation seemed completely hopeless, and now he had just lost his favorite hat. It wasn't even the hat itself that got to him. It was the fact that he and his father had worked together to collect and send in the postcards needed to win that limited edition hat. It was one of the only things he still had to remember his father and now it was gone. Just like that.

"Just keep calm." Ash repeated again. "Don't panic, don't cry. I can figure out a way out of this mess, I just need to keep calm."

Ash steadied his breathing and got back to his feet. He was not going to give up. No matter what life decided to throw at him, he would not give up. He was Ash Ketchum, after all. He was going to be a Pokémon Master one day and nothing could stop him in his dreams. His goals. His destiny.

Ash started walking forward. He didn't know what was up ahead, but that didn't matter. He tried to remain as confident in his posture as he could, though it ended up being a sort of limp due to all of his injuries. If fate had decided to through him through the proverbial ringer, then he was going to show fate that he had what it took to keep on. His father had before him, after all, and he knew he could be just as good as is father was. No, better.

"I want to be the very best." Ash tried to keep his mind off of the pain by singing his favorite song. "Like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test. To train them is my cause. Pokémon!"


	119. Chapter 119

"I must express my condolences for what has happened." Looker bowed his head as he stood before Delia, who was sitting on the couch, crying with her face buried in her hands. "I feel that I should take the blame, as this could have been avoided if only I had acted differently. I suspected 009 of working for Team Rocket and yet I did nothing to actually stop her from doing anything on their orders."

Delia looked up at the International Police Agent. Her eyes were red and puffy. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we find my baby boy."

"That will be difficult." Looker shook his head. "He could be anywhere in the world right now. My associates are doing everything that they can to get 009… no… Tulip Black to tell us where she sent him, but so far it would appear that not even she is aware. He can only hope and pray that he is safe."

Looker and Delia both turned as the front door opened. Carmine walked in, followed by Lance.

"I'm back." Carmine said as he looked around. He frowned as he saw that Delia was crying as well as how Looker was. "What happened?"

"Something regrettable." Looker answered.

"Ash is gone." Delia sobbed. "We don't know where he is."

"What do you mean?" Carmine asked, more concerned than before.

"We had a spy hidden among us." Looker sighed. "009 was working for Team Rocket this entire time. She apparently decided to get revenge for Ash's defeat of Giovanni and snuck into his room. She had her Alakazam catch him off guard and use Teleport to send him away somewhere. We still do not have any idea where he could be, but suffice it to say that he is far from safe."

Carmine lost his composure and reached out to steady himself against the wall. "But, we must have some way to find him, right?"

"If we do, then we do not know what it is. I am afraid that it is currently up to Ash to find a way out of whatever his current situation is and reach out to contact us in some way."

Carmine clenched his teeth as his hands curled up into tight fists. Then he sighed and relaxed. "Well, I know Ash. He'll be fine. Whatever he's facing right now, I'm sure he'll get through it without any trouble at all. Any moment now the phone is going to ring and he'll tell us where he is. Assuming that he doesn't find a way back on his own, that is."

Delia looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Yeah, Ash is just like his father. He'll be fine."

* * *

It had started to rain shortly after Ash started to walk away from where he had landed. It had started as a light shower but quickly turned into a downpour. The sky had seemed clear while he was falling from it though, which made Ash suspect that a Pokémon somewhere nearby had used Rain Dance to change the weather. He wasn't sure that any Pokémon native to the area could actually learn the move on their own and thought that it must have been a Pokémon owned by a trainer, probably in the middle of a battle. Ash knew that he should probably try and find the trainer to see if he or she could help him out, but had no idea where they might be and didn't really have time to consider it as he ran with his backpack over his head, trying to stay as dry as he could.

The rain stopped as soon as it had started, which has further proof that it had been the result of a Pokémon's Rain Dance. Unfortunately, he was sure that he had gone in the opposite direction if its source as he ran out of the trees into a clearing. On the plus side, there was an old road running through the clearing. It looked like it didn't get much use, but at least it was something. He went up to the dirt road and started walking alongside it. Hopefully, it would lead him to a town or city where he would be able to find a Pokémon Center.

His walk felt long and there wasn't much around, but he continued to make his way. After a while, he started to notice something off in the distance. He couldn't tell what it was at first, but as he got closer he saw that it was some kind of large building. Ash picked up his pace and started running towards the white and red, almost castle-like building. As he was running, he suddenly tripped over something and fell to the ground. He picked himself up and turned around to see what he had tripped over to find a fallen tree branch on the ground.

Ash could have sworn there had been nothing there a moment ago. Certainly, he would have noticed something as large as that branch in his way. He picked it up and examined it, but couldn't find anything strange about the discarded tree branch. He guessed that the leaves on it must have made the branch blend in with the green grass growing along the side of the old dirt road and tossed it over his shoulder as he continued on his way. Then he stopped again when he didn't hear the branch hit the ground and turned around. There was nothing there. The discarded branch was nowhere in sight.

Ash blinked a few times in confusion, before finally deciding to just turn around and keep going. He was only able to take two steps before slamming into a large stone wall blocking his way and falling back onto the ground.

"What's going on here?" Ash yelled in total confusion.

Not noticing a branch in his way was one thing, but there was no way that this wall had been there a second ago. Ash got to his feet again and placed his hand up against the wall. He couldn't find anything strange about it except for the fact that it hadn't been there a moment ago. He stepped back and looked around. He couldn't find any reason for there to be a wall there. It wasn't a part of any larger structure and it was partially blocking the road. No one in their right mind would have any reason to put a wall here. Ash gave the wall and strange look and the wall smiled back at him.

It took Ash a moment to process that. He thought it must have just been a trick of the light or something, so he rubbed his eyes and checked again. The wall was still smiling. Two beady black eyes stared at Ash above a thin mouth curved up in a grin. Ash stared dumbfounded at it before the entire wall suddenly moved, not to the side, but up. The wall almost seemed to jump over his head as it stretched up over his head and out of view.

Clearly, this 'wall' must actually have been some kind of Pokémon, but Ash had never heard of a Pokémon that looked like this before. Ash spun around to face it again but it was gone. Instead, there was a Tauros standing there with its head lowered, whipping itself with its three tails and scrapping the ground with its hoof, ready to charge.

Ash started to freak out and ran to his left to get away from the Wild Bull Pokémon. The Tauros charged after him, forcing Ash to run faster than he ever had before to try and stay away from it. He headed straight for the row of trees at the edge of the forest and jumped up, using his momentum and climbing as far up the tree as he could in the two seconds it took for the Tauros to slam into it. The tree wasn't as wide as the span of the Tauros' horns, meaning that the Pokémon ended up hitting the tree head-first with all of its strength and slumped to the ground. Ash was knocked out of the tree by the shock of the impact and fell onto the Tauros' back before it stood back up again and shook its head. Ash thought that the Tauros was going to try and buck him off of its back but instead it… melted away beneath him,

Before Ash had time to realize what was happening, the Tauros was gone and he was sitting with his legs sprawled out on the ground. He heard a loud thump behind him and turned around to see a Rhydon standing menacingly behind him. He quickly flashed back to his battle with Giovanni as the Rhydon towered over him with its arms crossed and smiled down at him. The drill-like horn protruding from just above its nostrils spun rapidly for a moment and stopped.

Ash had no idea what was going on anymore, but he quickly got up to his feet and ran further into the woods as the Rhydon chased after him.


	120. Chapter 120

Ash continued to run through the woods from the strange Rhydon chasing after him. He tried to zigzag between the trees to try and through it off of his trail, but it didn't work. The Rhydon seemed to move with grace and agility for more than something of its size and bulk should have been capable of. Ash reached down to his belt and grabbed one of his Pokéballs. He then turned around and held his ground as he sent out his Pokémon.

"Go, Kingler!"

The large Pincer Pokémon sprung out of the Pokéball towards Rhydon, its left claw held back and glowing silver. As Rhydon caught up to it, Kingler struck Rhydon with a Metal Claw, causing the Drill Pokémon to be knocked back off of its feet. Kingler followed up the attack with a Bubble Beam. Rhydon turned onto its stomach and laid there, defeated. Or at least that's how it appeared at first, but then Rhydon began to melt away into pink slime which then rematerialized as an Electabuzz. The Electric Pokémon held its hands at its side as it charged an Electro Ball and then launched it at Kingler. Kingler was unable to jump out of the way of the attack and was hit by it. Kingler collapsed onto the ground and weakly tried to get back up, but Ash recalled him back into his Pokéball and sent out his Sandslash instead.

"Use Dig!"

Sandslash dug its way underground and rose back up directly underneath the Electabuzz, hitting it with a powerful uppercut. Electabuzz was knocked back by the attack and started to melt away, forming into a Poliwrath. Poliwrath launched a Bubble Beam at Sandslash, who was sent flying back at Ash, who was knocked down by the blow. Ash recalled his Sandslash and was about to call out Haunter, but was too late. The Poliwrath ran up to him and stood imposingly over Ash. The Tadpole Pokémon reeled one of his fists back and Ash closed his eyes as it was about to hit him.

All Ash felt was a gentle nudge to his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes to see the Poliwrath standing there, poking Ash with a single finger. The Pokémon then stepped back and melted away again, this time turning into a small bird-like Pokémon with blue wings, a black head shaped like a musical note and a short pink beak that Ash had never seen before.

"Squawk, you're it! Squawk, you're it!"

Ash stared at the strange Pokémon for a moment and blinked a few times. The Pokémon flew in place in front of Ash as he sat there in stunned silence.

"Squawk, you're it! Squawk, you're it!" It repeated.

Ash finally reacted, taking off his backpack and reaching inside to pull out an empty Pokéball. He threw it at the strange Pokémon, who easily dodged it. He threw another and another, but the Pokémon just flew around out of reach. Ash started throwing them faster and faster and it steadily became harder for the Pokémon to dodge until finally Ash threw his last Pokéball, which actually managed to hit the Pokémon and it was sucked inside. The Pokéball fell to the ground and began to shake. After the third shake, it stopped and the light on its button went out, meaning that Ash had caught it.

Ash put his backpack back on and rose to his feet, recalling Sandslash into its own Pokéball as he did so. He then walked over to the Pokéball lying on the ground and picked it up. He looked down at it in his hand for a moment before holding it out and sending out his new Pokémon. The bolt of red Pokénergy shot out and struck the ground, where a small pile of pink goo materialized, which looked up at Ash with small, black eyes and smiled, waving a little blob from its side that almost looked like a hand. Ash then pulled out his Pokédex to see what this thing actually was.

-Ditto, the Transform Pokémon. Normal-type. Height: 1'00". Weight: 8.8 lbs. This rare Pokémon has the unique ability to reorganize its cellular structure to become a near perfect copy of anything that it sees. When they transform into something that is not right in front of them, Ditto have to rely on their memory instead, which means that they often fail.-

"Well, that explains a lot." Ash said as he read the Pokédex entry. "Although you don't seem to have a problem with using your memory to transform like the Pokédex says."

Ash looked back up at his new Ditto and was surprised to see that it had turned into a copy of him while he wasn't looking. The Ditto was looking down at its own fake Pokédex in an imitation of Ash.

"Although, you're going to take some getting used to." Ash looked around. "You wouldn't happen to remember which way we came from, would you?"

Ditto nodded and smiled before turning around and transformed into an Arcanine, sniffing the ground to find the way back. Ash followed after the Ditto and they made their way out of the woods.

* * *

"We're here at last." Squirtle announced as Team Pokémon finally reached Celadon City.

"Finally." Bulbasaur said. "How do so many humans do this? It feels like it takes forever just to get from one town to another."

"Well, for one thing, they have longer legs." Squirtle pointed out. "That means it doesn't quite take as long to get from one place to another. And humans just seem to be good at traveling long distances, doing all of the dirty work while their Pokémon just relax in their Pokéballs most of the time."

"Relax?" Zoroark repeated questioningly. "I always thought Pokéballs would be cramped and uncomfortable."

"Not at all." Charmander replied. "The Pokéballs actually create simulated habitats for the Pokémon inside, which are designed to be as comfortable as possible. I actually kind of miss my Pokéball, to be honest."

"Yeah, but your trainer was walking pile of garbage." Bulbasaur pointed out.

"I know some Trubbish and Garbodor who would take offense to that statement." Zoroark said.

"What are those?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Their Pokémon from around where I live." Zoroark explained. "They're well… basically walking piles of garbage that go around eating actual trash."

"So kind of like Grimer and Muk?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't know what those are, but probably."

"They're living piles of toxic sludge that feed off of pollution." Bulbasaur explained.

"Yeah, sounds like their pretty much the same then." Zoroark said.

"Why are we talking about garbage?" Jigglypuff shouted angrily.

"You're the one asked." Zoroark muttered underneath her breath.

"So where's the Gym, anyway?" Charmander tried to change the subject.

"No idea." Squirtle replied. "But we'll find it eventually. It should be a Water-type Gym, so when we get there, Bulbasaur will be doing the fighting."

"Why me?" Bulbasaur asked defensively.

"Because you're a Grass-type, which means you have a type advantage."

"Oh, right." Bulbasaur tried to hide his embarrassment. "That makes sense."

"I'm up second in case things don't turn out according to plan." Squirtle continued. "And I guess Jigglypuff is on third."

"What?" Jigglypuff asked in a tone that clearly showed she took offense to that idea. "What makes you think I'm fighting?"

"Okay…" Squirtle said awkwardly. "Then I guess Charmander is on third. But it shouldn't have to come to that, anyway."

"Hey, I think I see it up ahead!" Charmander shouted excitedly as he pointed to a large, brown-roofed building.

The group hurried towards the Gym, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves as they walked along the busy streets of Cerulean City. Finally, they reached their goal.

"Great, now we're here." Squirtle said as they walked up to the door. "We've just gone over the battle plan, so let's go in… and… wait…"

The doors to the Gym didn't open.

"There's a note posted here." Zoroark said as she pointed to a piece of paper hanging on the other side of the sliding glass door. "I can't really read human very well, though, so I'm not really sure what it says."

"Lift me up." Squirtle told her. "I can read it."

Zoroark reached down and grabbed Squirtle by the sides of his shell and held him up so that he was level with the note.

"It says 'Notice: The Cerulean Gym is temporarily closed while the Gym Leaders are away for business. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.' Well, that's just great."

"What now?" Bulbasaur asked as Zoroark lowered Squirtle back to the ground.

"I could hold a concert here." Jigglypuff suggested. "Although I'm not sure if the people here are worthy of my performance."

"That sounds like a great idea." Squirtle lied. "But I think our time would probably be better spent doing… basically anything other than that."


	121. Chapter 121

Gary pulled out his Pokégear as he made his way back down the mountain. It had just occurred to him that he should probably let the others know about his change of plans.

"Hello?" Kat's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hey, Kat." Gary said. "I decided that I'm going to stay here for a while to train."

"You lost to Lance, didn't you?" Kat asked him knowingly.

"What? Why would you think that?" Gary's tone of voice made it clear that he had.

"Hey, it's not that big a deal." Kat tried to reassure him. "Lance is probably one of the best trainers in the region, if not the entire country, and Dragon-types are notoriously tough. It's only natural that you'd have trouble beating him."

"Whatever." Gary grumbled angrily. "Look, I'll call you back when I'm done but don't expect here back from me for another day or two."

"Be sure to call if anything happens."

"Sure." Gary said with mild sarcasm. "Although reception might be a bit of an issue while I'm in a cave. Anyway, bye."

"Wait, what do you mean by-"

Gary hung up and put the Pokégear back in his pocket. He had just reached the entrance to the lava tubes that Lance had told him about.

"Well, it looks like it's time to get busy." He said to himself as he walked into the tunnel's entrance.

Gary pulled out a Pokéball and sent out his Growlithe. The Fire-type Puppy Pokémon wagged his fluffy tan-colored tail and opened his mouth. A small jet of flame jetted out from orange-furred Pokémon's mouth, lighting the cavern ahead of them. Gary and his Growlithe started walking deeper into the tunnel.

"I really need to get a flashlight when I get the chance. Or a lantern." Gary stepped over a rock. "Probably both. That way I don't have to keep using you as a light source. Now that I think about it, we've been in a lot of dark places recently."

Gary and Growlithe turned around a corner in the tunnel and kept going.

"I wonder how deep these tunnels go." Gary said, mostly to himself. "Lance said they were lava tubes, so they probably go pretty far. We should make sure that we can remember the way back."

* * *

"I suppose we should start making our way over to Saffron City now." Red said as he, Yellow and Sable stood around outside the Celadon City Pokémon Center. "Unless anyone has something they think we should do first."

"I think it would be a good idea to see more of the city before we leave." Sable said. "I've heard that there's a giant supermarket somewhere that's the largest store in the area. I kind of want to check it out."

"I guess it would be kind of nice to stock up on supplies." Red agreed. "Actually having enough sleeping bags for everybody would be nice. Maybe even get a tent."

"Wait, do we even have any money?" Yellow asked.

"We should." Red said as he pulled out his Pokédex. "The Pokémon League automatically sends money to trainers whenever they win an official battle."

"But where does that money come from?"

Red shrugged. "My guess would be ticket sales from tournaments. I'm sure they make a lot from the annual Pokémon League Tournament alone, plus they have a lot of smaller tournaments and events around the region throughout the rest of the year as well. They also get money from taxes. I'm sure that's part of it as well."

"Well, that's nice for you." Sable said. "I for one am above such trivial matters as material wealth."

"So you're saying you're broke?"

"Um…" Sable blushed slightly. "Yes."

"That's fine. I know what it's like." Red replied. "It looks like I plenty saved up right now, so if you want anything I should be able to get it for you."

"Thank you for the offer but I should be fine." Sable said.

"Hmm…" Red suddenly looked contemplative. "I wonder if this means I can file you as a dependent on my taxes."

"I think you overestimate how long I'll be with you." Sable sighed.

"It was a joke." Red said defensively.

"Yeah, sure it was. Now are we going or not?" Sable asked.

"Yeah, I suppose we should." Red looked around. "Hey, where'd Yellow go?"

"She left right after you finished talking about where you're money comes from. I think she got bored." Sable gestured in the direction Yellow had run off in.

"Why does she have to have to keep running off like this?" Red asked rhetorically as he turned to go after her.

"Why does the wind blow?" Sable replied, following Red's lead.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." Sable shrugged. "I just thought it sounded good.

* * *

Attila took several steps forward, dropped to his knees and punched the ground.

"They were just here." He muttered through gritted teeth. "Right in front of us and we let them get away."

"Now, now." Hun said as he walked over to Attila. "Don't let it get to you so hard."

"Just when we finally managed to track down those brats, they Teleported to who-knows-where."

Attila stood back up and looked around, realizing that he was starting to draw attention from passersby. They were standing outside of the Porta Vista hospital that Red, Yellow and Sable had just left.

"Hey, we never thought that tracking down those kids was going to be easy. So what if they have access to a Pokémon that can Teleport anywhere they want? The kid with the hat is working to enter the Pokémon League, right? That makes their movement predictable. We'll find them eventually and give that brat what's coming to him."

"I know." Attila said, not hiding his frustration. "For now we should probably get out of here."

Attila and Hun both turned to leave the city, but on their way out they were confronted by a nasty old lady with red hair tied into a pair of braided pigtails that would have better suited a girl less than a quarter of her age.

"WELL, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? A COUPLE OF STRAPPING YOUNG GENTLEMEN THAT LOOK LIKE YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP AN OLD WOMAN OUT. I'M SURE THAT TWO CHARMING MEN LIKE YOURSELVES WOULD JUST LOVE TO HELP MY COUSIN OUT WITH SOME… ISSUES… THAT SHE'S BEEN HAVING WITH HER CONSTRUCTION PLANS."

Brutella chuckled devilishly as she admired Attila's rugged physique, with rippling muscles and spiky blonde hair, as well as Hun's slender, almost feminine build and long gray hair. Attila stared down at the haggard old lady, the sun reflecting off of his sunglasses to completely cover his eyes and make his expression unreadable. He smirked.

"What do have in mind?" He asked, catching Hun off guard.

"I LIKE YOUR ENTHUSIASM," Brutella said in a gleeful tone that did not suit her. "COME ON, I'LL TAKE YOU TO GO SEE NASTINA AND SHE'S TELL YOU BOYS WHAT TO DO."

"Yes, let's get going."

Brutella turned around and marched off to lead the way. Attila and Hun followed her, though Hun wasn't sure at first why they were. Then he slowly realized what Attila must have been planning and he smiled. It looked like Attila was going to be able to vent some of his frustration after all.

The three made their way to the same stage where Brutella had taken Red to see Nastina the day before, where Nastina was waiting. She didn't seem to have actually been doing anything before they got there.

"HEY, NASTINA! I GOT A COUPLE OF GUYS HERE THAT WANT TO HELP YOU OUT WITH YOUR PROBLEM." Brutella screamed at here.

"I HOPE THESE ONES DO A BETTER JOB THAN THE LAST BOY YOU BROUGHT." Nastina yelled back at her even though they were practically right next to each other at this point. "HE STILL HASN'T COME BACK YET."

"I can assure you, ma'am, that we are not like whoever it is that you hired before." Attila said.

"WELL, THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR. YOU SEE, I'M TRYING TO BUILD AN AMUSEMENT PARK AND HOTEL JUST OFFSHORE, BUT SOMEONE'S BEEN SABBATOGING THE CONSTRUCTION."

"That is unfortunate." Attila said with false sympathy.

"I NEED YOU TO GO AND STOP WHOEVER'S DOING IT."

"I see…" Attila paused. "There's just one problem with that."

"WHAT'S THAT?"

"It's that I really don't care." Attila popped his knuckles intimidatingly. "I just came over here because I have some anger issues that I need to work out."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Nastina held up her walking stick angrily as if brandishing it as a weapon.

"You really don't want to know." Attila took a step towards Nastina and Brutella, pulling out a Pokéball and tossing it in the air.


	122. Chapter 122

Ash made his way back out of the woods, walking around the tree he had climbed up to avoid the charging Tauros from earlier. Although it hadn't actually been a Tauros but the Ditto that was no taking the form of an Arcanine and leading the way for Ash. It was hard for Ash to believe how much his situation had changed in just the past few minutes. Then again, he had been having a very eventful birthday, to the point where this wasn't even the biggest change in circumstances that day.

The red and white building that Ash had seen earlier was still in view, so Ash called his Ditto back into its Pokéball and made his way over to it. The building appeared to be an old, decrepit manor of some sort, which managed to remain bright and colorful despite the wear and tear that became more and more noticeable as he approached. As he approached the building, a rising feeling built up in Ash that is must have been abandoned long ago. It was unlikely that he would find any help here.

Ash looked up at the sign hanging above the front doorway. 'House of Imite'. The name didn't sound familiar to Ash but he only had a moment to think about it before he jumped suddenly, startled as someone opened the door and walked out.

It was a boy around Ash's age, wearing a red and white jacket over a dark purple t-shirt and a dark blue pair of jeans. He had black hair that kind of spiked out a bit and there was a Pikachu resting on his shoulder, although that wasn't what really caught Ash's attention.

"Oh, hi. Are you here to challenge the Gym Leader, too?" The boy asked when he saw Ash there staring at him.

"There's a Gym Leader here?" Ash was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah. The actual Gym is still being built right now, so this place is being used until they finish with that." The boy explained. "But isn't that why you're here?"

"Um… no." Ash smiled weekly in embarrassment. "Actually I'm kind of lost right now. I was just looking for someone that I could ask for directions."

"Where do want to go?" The boy asked. "I can probably tell you how to get there. I haven't been in this area for very long, but I think I know the area well enough."

"Well, anywhere really." Ash replied.

"Well, Fuchsia City is just a couple miles west from here." The boy pointed in the direction Ash had been walking. "I was actually just about to head over there myself so that I can challenge the city's Gym."

"Thanks. Ash said as he started to notice the distant cityscape of on the horizon.

"It's really no problem." The boy smiled and started to walk past Ash. "I always help anyone in need whenever I get the chance."

"One more thing…" Ash said before the boy could leave. "I just wanted to say that I used to have a hat just like that one."

"Oh?" The boy automatically glanced upward, towards the hat he was wearing, which looked identical to the one that Ash had just lost. "What happened to it?"

"A Mankey stole it this morning." Ash explained. "Took it right off my head and ran off before I could get it back."

"Well, in that case, this probably is yours then." The boy said as he took the hat off and tossed it to Ash.

"What?" Ash stared at the boy in confusion as he caught the hat.

"Shortly before I got here I ran into a wild Mankey, which must have been the same one that you encountered." The boy said. "Naturally, I sent out my Pidgeotto to attack it and then managed to capture the Mankey but then I sent it out to get a better look at my new Pokémon I realized that he was wearing this hat. I figured that it must belong to someone who lost it and that the best thing to do would be to wear the hat. That way, if I ever ran into the hat's owner they would notice it and be able to tell me that it was there's. It seemed much more efficient than just going around asking everyone I meet if they lost a hat, or something along those lines, and it would appear that I was right."

"Well, thank you. I didn't think that I would ever get this back." Ash could barely follow along with the boy's story because he was talking so fast, but he thought that he caught the gist of it. He put his hat back and suddenly realized just how weird it had been not wearing it.

"No problem." The boy smiled, holding out his hand. "By the way, my name's Satoshi. Satoshi Shigeru, of Viridian City. Most people call me Shu. What's your name?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, of Pallet Town." Ash grabbed Shu's outstretched hand and shook it.

"Small world." Shu laughed. "My friends used to call me Ash when I was younger, short for Satoshi. Over time the nickname just kind of phased out though and people started calling by Shu, taking the 'sh from Satoshi and the 'u' from Shigeru. Anyway, I should probably be heading off now and leave you to your own business. Catch ya later!"

Shu waved as he left, heading up the road leading towards Fuchsia. Ash thought that Shu seemed friendly but he sure talked a lot. Ash felt like he still had the sound of Shu's voice echoing through his skull as he stepped into the House of Imite.

It was dark inside, but fortunately Ash had remembered to grab a flashlight while he was at home. He pulled it out of his backpack and used it to light the way. The building seemed abandoned as he wandered through the halls and he was starting to wonder if maybe Shu had lied about it being a Gym.

"This place gives me the creeps." Ash muttered to himself. "It feels like its haunted or something."

"Boo!"

Ash jumped and nearly dropped his flashlight. He slowly turned around to see who, or what, was behind him and saw Hanami floating there.

"You startled me." Ash said, relieved that it was just her.

"That was kind of the point." Hanami smiled mischievously. "And everywhere you go could be considered haunted as long as I'm with you."

"I guess that's kind of true. Although it feels like it's been a while since you've shown yourself.

"It's only been around a day." Hanami pointed out. "Don't tell me you forgot about me that quickly."

"No, no!" Ash waved his hands nervously, not wanting to admit that he actually had forgotten about his ghostly traveling companion. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know if there's anyone else in here besides us, would you?"

"Are you talking about the Gym Leader that the boy from earlier mentioned?" Hanami closed her translucent eyelids for a moment, concentrating on something, and pointed towards a door leading out of the hall. "I sense someone over in that room. It must be her."

"Good." Ash said. "I was starting to worry that I'd been lied to."

Hanami faded away again and Ash headed towards the door that she had pointed to. He opened it up to see that it led into a large room filled with chairs facing an elevated stage of some sort. Ash put his flashlight away as the lights were actually on in this room and looked around as he walked slowly towards the stage, but he couldn't see any sign of another person in there with him. He stopped halfway along the walkway between rows of seats and closed his eyes, taking long, drawn-out breaths. He tried to remember what it had felt like back in Saffron City when he had started to see things when his eyes were shut. He had been under a lot of stress back then but something deep in the back of his mind told him that he would be able to do it again if he simply concentrated hard enough. He was right.

It felt a bit different this time. Before, it had been like he was able to see what was in front of him when his eyes were shut and that he could look past what his eyes would normally have seen, even through solid objects and walls. This time it was more like he was feeling what was around him. Not just in the direction that he was facing but the entire room. The entire mansion, in fact. Every chair, every hallway, every speck of dust. It was all clear to him.

After a moment of taking in the strange sensation, his attention focused on the area up above the stage. There was a person up there, a girl, who was waiting for him to get closer so that he could surprise him. He didn't sense any ill will from her though, simply a desire for theatrics. Her presence reminded Ash of the Ditto that he had just caught.

Ash opened his eyes again and everything returned to normal. Though a part of him could still feel the Gym Leader's presence up above. He continued walking towards the stage and felt the girl drop down onto the stage, probably using a rope to control her descent. He climbed up onto the stage where he was greeted by… himself?

"I'm here to challenge to challenge the Gym Leader. You wouldn't happen to have seen here, have you?"

Ash wasn't sure what was going on. This person appeared to look just like him and was even talking in his own voice. It was as if he was facing himself but that couldn't be. He could clearly sense that it was the girl he had felt.

"But… aren't you the Gym Leader?" Ash asked in utter confusion.

Ash's doppelganger mirrored his confused expression, staring at him for a moment. "Wow, hardly anyone ever sees through my disguises that quickly."

The lights suddenly turned off for a second and when they turned back on the Ash imposter was gone, replaced by a girl with bushy teal hair tied back in twin ponytails and wearing an orange shirt with a yellow star on it.

"My name's Duplica. I'm the Gym Leader here." She said. "Now what are we waiting for? Let's get this battle started."


	123. Chapter 123

"I've never seen anything like this." The Iron-Masked Marauder sat at an old computer console, going over whatever data had been left behind.

"What is it?" Giovanni stood behind the Marauder, with his arms folded tightly.

"I've found some notes on Mewtwo's development." The Marauder said. "I didn't know it was even possible for a Pokémon to develop so much power so quickly. It says here that only a week after it was created, they set Mewtwo loose against a herd of thirty Tauros that they look from the Safari Zone. He defeated the entire herd without taking a single hit."

"That is impressive." Giovanni smirked. "Assuming that his power continued to grow."

"Apparently he got so strong that the scientists eventually had to develop a special armor for him to limit and control his power."

"A lot of good that did them. Do you have anything of actual importance to report about your findings?"

The Iron-Masked Marauder paused for a moment. "No."

"Then I'll leave you to your research for now." Giovanni turned around and headed for the doorway but then turned back. "By the way, have you finished setting up Dark Synergy Crystal yet?"

"Yes." The Marauder asked, a bit confused by the unexpected question. "Why do ask?"

"I was just curious." Giovanni slipped out the door without another word.

* * *

"Unless I'm wrong, you currently have four Gym Badges." Duplica said as she stood at one end of the stage.

"That's right." Ash stood at the other end.

"Then that means this will be your last three-on-three Gym battle. So, we might as well not doddle any longer and get this battle started."

Ash sent out his Fearow, who flew out of his Pokéball and landed on the floor a few feet in front of Ash. Duplica called out a Raticate that ran around in a tight circle for a moment before standing up straight and using Growl. Fearow flew up and spread his wings out wide. A valley of stars launched out from them and hurtled towards Raticate. Raticate tried to jump out of the way of the Swift, but the stars arced around and hit Raticate anyway. Raticate was knocked onto its back but quickly rolled back onto its feet and looked up at Fearow with a Scary Face. It startled Fearow, causing him to slow down, but didn't really do Raticate any good because it didn't have any attacks that could actually hit Fearow while it was flying high in the air. Or at least, that's what Raticate wanted Fearow to think.

Raticate suddenly ran towards the wall and started climbing up with surprising speed. Once it had gone up high enough, Raticate jumped off and managed to Tackle Fearow, knocking the giant bird down to the ground and using Super Fang to bite into Fearow's right wing. Combined with the damage that Fearow had already sustained when he and Ash had plummeted into the ground earlier, this left Fearow too weakened to fly. Fearow remained undeterred by this and used his left wing to knock Raticate away using a Steel Wing attack. Raticate was knocked into the wall and stunned for a moment by the impact. Fearow took this opportunity to use Roost. He closed his eyes and began to glow faintly as an aura of white feathers surrounded him and his injuries began to rapidly heal. Raticate charged towards Fearow to try and interrupt but was too late. Fearow took off back into the air and out of Raticate's reach just in time to avoid being hit by Raticate's Crunch. Raticate stared up at Fearow, trying to decide what to do now. But there was nothing that Raticate could do as Fearow dove back down and rammed hard into Raticate's side, knocking out the Mouse Pokémon.

"Impressive." Duplica said as she returned her Raticate back to its Pokéball. Now it's time for the second part of our cat and mouse game."

Ash had no idea what Duplica was talking about at first but then she sent out her second Pokémon and it sort of made sense. Her Persian landed on the ground in front of her and the Classy Cat Pokémon let out a fierce Growl, lowering Fearow's attack. Fearow flew up high above Persian and circled the air a few times while Persian stared up at him intently. Fearow dove down to strike Persian but Persian was able to leap out of the way in time and Fearow was barely able to pull up in time to avoid crashing into the stage floor. Persian turned around and dashed towards Fearow, hitting him with a Slash before Fearow had time to react.

Fearow flew back into the air and instead of using Fly again decided to use Ariel Ace instead. His wings began to glow just before he dove down and Persian jumped out of the way again but this time Fearow was able to twist around in midair and slash Persian across its side with one of his glowing wings. Persian was knocked onto its back but was able to quickly roll over and get back to its feet. Not fast enough, though, as Fearow flew straight up, spinning itself rapidly in the air and swooping back down, hitting Persian with Drill Run. Persian was knocked back several feet and sprawled out on the ground as it lost consciousness.

"Wow, you're actually doing better than I thought you would." Duplica said. "One more to go, but can you beat my best Pokémon?"

* * *

Daisy stretched and sat up in bed, yawning loudly as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked over at the clock and realized that she should probably get up and actually do something. If they knew where Gary was now then that meant that Koga would no longer be out looking for him. Daisy figured that she might as well give the Fuchsia Gym a visit and challenge Koga to a battle. She was sure that she had probably fallen behind the others in regards to collecting Gym Badges and now was as good a time as any to earn one more.

Daisy got out of bed and returned all of her Pokémon to their Pokéballs except for Cleffa. After she brushed her hair, put her hat on and slung her bag over her shoulder, Daisy picked up Cleffa and cradled the shiny baby Pokémon in her arms. Cleffa giggled as Daisy headed out of the hotel room and started down the hallway. It didn't take long before she had reached the lobby, where she checked out and then left.

Fuchsia City had sort of a musky feel to it. Daisy wasn't sure if she had really noticed it before but it seemed obvious to her now. The air was thick and humid. She wasn't sure how anyone could live in a place like this. Although maybe it wasn't always like this, she wasn't really sure. Daisy made her way along the dark red roads across the city until she finally found herself standing outside of the Fuchsia Gym.

The moment she stepped into the Gym Daisy realized that she was drenched in sweat. She felt sticky and gross, though Cleffa didn't seem to mind at all. Nothing ever did seem to bother her adorable little pink and green star.

Daisy looked around the Gym, which seemed to have an elegantly old-fashioned look to its design. She spotted Koga sitting at the far end of the Gym, apparently meditating. She started to walk up to him but instead ended up slamming into something. Cleffa let out a squeal as Daisy stepped back and rubbed her injured nose. At first, she couldn't see anything there, which made her utterly confused about what just happened. After a moment she realized that there was a glass wall in front of her, polished so clean that the only reason she could see it at all was the smudge marks she had left when she walked into it. Daisy tried to walk around seemingly random glass wall only to walk into another one. She had no idea why all of this glass was in her way, but she looked down and happened to notice that there was a slight divot in the floor where the glass was. She looked around to see if there were any more and quickly came to realized that the entire Gym was some sort of invisible maze that she was apparently going to have to navigate through in order to get to Koga.

"Well…" She muttered under her breath. "This is different."


	124. Chapter 124

Duplica sent out her third and final Pokémon. Ash was surprised to see a familiar looking pink blob, as Duplica's Ditto smiled blankly at Ash and his Fearow. Ash ordered his Fearow to attack the Ditto with Aerial Ace, but Ditto used Transform to turn into a copy of Fearow and countered the attack with Mirror Move. A reflective barrier appeared in front of the Ditto just as Fearow was about to strike and caused him to be hit by his own attack instead. Fearow recoiled and flew back as Ditto assumed a defensive stance with its wings folded in front of it almost like some kind of shield.

Ash noticed that the Ditto's transformation wasn't fully accurate. Its eyes hadn't changed, remaining the simple black dots that the Ditto had in its regular form. The edges of its beak were also completely straight, rather than jagged like Fearow's. He thought this was kind of strange considering that the Ditto he caught earlier hadn't had the same issues, at least as far as he had noticed.

"What's it like to have to fight yourself?" Asked Duplica, who had apparently switched back to her Ash disguise while Ash was focused on the battle.

"It feels kind of familiar, actually." Ash replied, thinking of his battle against Gastly back on Maiden's Peak, where he had used his powers to conjure up an illusory doppelganger for Ash to fight. It was then that he had realized how important it was to grow and mature as a person. "I can switch out my Pokémon whenever I want in a Gym Battle, right?"

"Just so long as you never use more than three different Pokémon in the fight." Duplica said. "Although doing so would leave you open to an attack. Kind of like right now!"

Duplica's Ditto suddenly charged at Ash's Fearow with a Drill Run, but Fearow was able to dodge the attack.

"That shouldn't be much of an issue." Ash said as he recalled Fearow back into its Pokéball. "Now, let's see what you've got!"

Ash sent out his newest Pokémon and Ditto landed on the stage, almost identical to Duplica's had looked before it used Transform.

"Oh, wow!" Duplica seemed surprised. "I didn't realize you had a Ditto of your own. It's been a while since I've seen anyone else with one."

"I just caught right before I got here." Ash explained.

Duplica's Ditto used Fly, rising up into the air before it would attack.

"Wait a minute…" Duplica said. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"I guess that would depend on what you think it means." Ash replied, curious as to what she was talking about."

The fake Fearow swooped down and tried to dive bomb Ash's Ditto. However, it found its attack interrupted as a large yellow hand grabbed it by the beak, holding the large bird in place.

"It is!" Duplica exclaimed. "I've had my eye on that Ditto for a while now but I didn't think that anyone would actually be able to catch it!"

"Why?"

Fear seemed evident in the fake Fearow's black beady eyes for a split second as it stared up at the Electabuzz that was holding it in place. But it was too late for Duplica's Ditto to do anything as Ash's Ditto let out a massive Discharge through its hand.

"Most Ditto can only transform into other Pokémon another Pokémon that they're directly looking at." Duplica said as her Ditto collapsed onto the ground, shrinking down into its natural pink blobby form. "Some can't even do that very well. Mine Ditto here, for example, has trouble mimicking faces. But some Ditto have the unique talent to perfectly imitate any Pokémon from memory."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Ash commented as they both recalled their Ditto.

"I've been trying to catch that one for a while because I thought that it would make a good addition to my show. Hopefully even bring in enough people that I could afford to build this old theater back up. But I just never managed to catch it."

"You can have it if you want." Ash suggested, holding out Ditto's Pokéball.

"No, that's alright." Duplica shook her head. "You caught the Ditto, so you should keep it. Besides, my Gym is almost finished with its construction and once that's done I'll probably be too busy anyway."

Ash lowered the Pokéball back to his belt and walked up to Duplica, who reached into the pocket of her replica of Ash's jacket and pulled out a badge that looked like four green ovals forming a rounded square around a pink center.

"You've earned this Core Badge." Duplica handed the badge to Ash, who held it high above his head triumphantly.

"Yes!" Ash turned his head almost reflexively to see Pika's reaction, only to be reminded that his Pikachu wasn't with him. His smile faded away and he pinned the Core Badge to the inside of his jacket, along with the Boulder Badge, Thunder, Cascade Badge and Earth Badge he had already earned. "Just three more to go."

* * *

Brock wiped his forehead with a sweat rag as he sat down on a large rock. The sun seemed particularly bright after spending all night working underground. His father walked up beside him and sat on the cold, wet grass.

"It looks like we're finally done." Flint sighed. "That turned out to be a lot more work than I was expecting."

"Yeah." Brock agreed. "Do you have any idea what could have caused all of this?"

"Haven't a clue." Flint shook his head. "It looks almost like a hurricane passed through here but that isn't possible. The only thing I could think of would be that all of this devastation was somehow caused by a Pokémon battle."

"What kind of Pokémon could have caused this level of ecological damage?" Brock asked his father.

"That's the part I still don't understand. I'm especially confused as to what would have caused Diglett's Cave to have completely collapsed. I just heard from Bruno that his Steelix had to completely re-dig the entire tunnel."

Brock was suddenly glad that his father wasn't looking at him, otherwise he would have seen the look of embarrassment that just passed over Brock's face. "Yeah, I have no idea either." Brock lied, not wanting to admit his own involvement with that.

"I'm just glad that we had that Aggron helping us fix things up out here." Flint remarked. "Although I don't know what an Aggron was doing on its own here in Kanto."

"I don't know either." Brock was glad for this change in topic. "I've heard that Aggron are often seen restoring the environment after natural disasters. That doesn't explain why it was here, though."

"I guess there are just some things that we'll never know." Flint sighed and lied back on the grass.

"How are the others doing?" Brock asked.

"Your brothers and sisters are all fine." Flint sat up again and turned to face Brock. "They miss having you around, though. Honestly, I get the impression that they would rather have you around than me."

Brock let out a chuckle. "I'm sure they'll come around eventually."

Flint stared off into the distance for a moment, apparently deep in thought. "I just got a letter the other day... from Lola."

Brock nearly fell off of the rock he was sitting on. "Mom?"

"She said that she's finally coming home."

Brock sat in stunned silence. His mother had disappeared nearly two years ago, shortly after his father had left. She said she was going to sail around the world with her Pokémon and walked out the door, and that was the last anyone had seen her. Brock wasn't even sure if she was even still alive at this point.

"Did she say when?" Brock asked at last.

"No." Flint shook his head. "She just said that had almost finished her trip and that she'd be back soon. She didn't say where she was or when 'soon' will be."

"Well…" Brock wasn't really sure what else to say. "I guess having Mom back will be nice. It will definitely be different for the kids. I don't think Billy and Tilly even remember Mom."

A cool breeze blew through Route 2 as father and son sat together in contemplative silence. It was hard to believe how much their family's lives had changed in just the past few months.


	125. Chapter 125

Daisy turned around one last, near-invisible corner in the Fuchsia Gym and found herself standing directly in front of Koga. The Gym leader stood up from his kneeling position and nodded.

"You have done well to make it here." He said. "Most challengers take much longer to make their way through the maze. Many even find themselves giving up before they reach me."

"Why do you even have this maze here?" Daisy's frustration was evident in her voice.

"If a trainer does not have the patiants or skill to navigate this maze, then they do not have what it takes to become a Pokémon Trainer. We have decided to begin renovating the Gym system to include challenges that teach potential trainers the skills that they need besides simple battle strategy."

"I guess that kind of makes sense." Daisy said, not really understanding how a maze of glass walls was supposed to teach anyone anything. "But then why is this the first time that I've had to go through anything like this?"

"My Gym is the first to have gone through these new renovations. It will take some time before all of the Gyms are finished, but hopefully everything will be ready in preparation for next year's Pokémon League Tournament. Now, shall we begin the battle?"

"Huh? Oh, right." Daisy took a few steps back, nearly bumping into one of the glass walls in the process. "My name is Daisy Oak from Pallet Town and I challenge you to a Gym Battle."

"I, Koga of the Fuchsia Gym, accept your challenge." Koga said, stepping back as well and pulling a Pokéball out from his sleeve. "Now, without any interruption, let the battle commence."

* * *

Attila and Hun walked back out alongside the main road in Porta Vista. Attila had a certain swagger in his step which showed that he was in a good mood.

"Now, where were we?" Attila wondered aloud, trying to get his mind back on track after that diversion.

"I believe we were going to track down that brat and his friends." Hun smiled mischievously.

"Yes, that's right." Attila nodded. "They won't know what hit them."

"Really? I thought you would want them to know what hit them." Hun replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean."

"You boys look like you could use some help."

Attila and Hun turned around to see who had just spoken. They were both surprised to see three all too familiar faces that they were sure they would never see again. Hunter J, Annie and Oakley walked up to them.

"What do you want?" Attila asked them angrily.

"Who? Me?" Hunter J asked coyly. "Whatever would make you think that I want something?"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't." Attila pointed out.

"I suppose that is true. But to be honest, we weren't actually looking for you specifically. This happy reunion is the result of luck more than anything else."

"Get to the point."

"Fine, fine." Hunter J raised her hands up in a gesture of supposed goodwill "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Team Rocket is in pretty bad shape after everything that's happened in the past few days. We're going around to pick up the pieces."

"You're taking advantage of the current situation to get as much of Team Rocket's resources under your own control."

"There's no hiding anything from you." Hunter J gave a false laugh. "And since we've found you here, I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining us."

"And why would we work for you?" Attila asked rhetorically. "You've all already betrayed us before."

"Now when did we do that?" It was obvious from Hunter J's tone of voice that she knew exactly what he was referring too.

"The S.S. Anne." Attila said. "Back when you left Team Rocket and let the boat on fire while we were still on it."

"Because obviously there was no way you could have made it out of there in one piece." Hunter J remarked sarcastically. "And as for leaving Team Rocket, well, I can't help but notice that you two aren't in uniform anymore."

"We realized that Team Rocket was holding us back." Attila replied.

"Well, I'd say that's something that we all had in common." Hunter J turned to the two sisters behind here. "Isn't that right, girls?"

"Yes." Annie said while Oakley nodded in agreement.

"You see?" Hunter J turned back to Attila and Hun. "We're all the same here when you get right down to it. So why don't we work together and help each other out?"

Attila and Hun glanced at each other for a moment before Attila answered her. "Fine. We'll join you for now. But don't get used to it."

* * *

Red and Sable ran up to an intersection and stopped.

"Did you see which way she went?" Red asked Sable, his worry on the verge of becoming panic.

"No." Sable answered in her usual calm, almost monotone voice. "I've been behind you this whole time, after all."

Red sighed in exasperation. "Alright then. I guess we'll split up. I'll go this way and you'll go that way."

"That sounds like a plan." Sable mused and ran off in the direction that Red pointed.

Red set off in the other direction, searching for any sign of Yellow as he went. He looked down every side road and alleyway he passed until he found himself standing outside of the Celadon Department Store. He looked up at the massive building and realized that if Yellow had gone this way she probably would have stopped and gone in here since this is where they were planning on going. He walked up to one of the two sets of automatic doors, which slid out of his way as he went inside. Red found himself in what seemed to be a lobby of some sort. There were people of all sorts waiting or walking around the lobby and several clerks standing at customer service desks. Red walked up to one of the clerks.

"Excuse me. Have you seen a young girl come in here?" Red asked him. "She's around nine years old with long blonde hair tied back in a large ponytail, wearing an orange dress over a black shirt and blue pants."

"I'm afraid that I haven't seen anyone matching that description." The clerk replied apologetically.

Red sighed. "Okay. I guess that means that she didn't come this way after all. Thank you for your help."

Red turned around and walked back outside. He looked back and forth down the street, trying to figure out which way to go next. He could feel his heart pumping fast and loud in his chest as he tried not to panic. Why did Yellow have to keep wandering off like this? He silently made a note to try and get some kind of Pokémon that would be able to track her down quickly if this ever happened again and set off back in the direction he had come from. After running down the sidewalk for a moment he slowed to a walk and was finally able to calm down as he saw Sable walking towards him with Yellow beside her.

When the two girls reached Red, he knelt down and grabbed Yellow by the shoulders.

"Don't run off like that." He said sternly.

"Sorry." Yellow looked embarrassed, as did Chuchu resting on her head. "I didn't mean to go very far but then I got swept up in a crowd and got lost."

"That's alright." Red sighed and stood up again. "The important thing is that you're safe now. Just make sure to stick with me from now on."

"Shouldn't that be us?" Sable asked with mild sarcasm.

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, it wasn't all bad." Yellow said, her usual pep returning to her as she held up a Pokéball. "I met a friendly guy who gave me this."

"What is it?" Red asked.

"He said it was an Eevee." Yellow answered cheerfully. "He found it wandering the streets on its own and wanted someone to be able to take care of it."

"Well, that was certainly nice of him to give it to you. Did you thank him?"

"Um, yeah." Yellow's expression suggested that she was lying.

"Well, anyway, we should get going." Red grabbed Yellow by the hand and turned around. "The Department Store is right over here."


	126. Chapter 126

Ash left the House of Imite and walked along the road leading to Fuchsia City. It proved to be an uneventful walk which was a relief for Ash after how hectic his day had been so far. After a while, he decided to stop for a moment and rest for a while. He took off his shoes and socks so that he could feel the cool green grass on his feet, which proved to be very refreshing after walking for so long. Then he figured that it would be a good idea to let his Pokémon out as well so that they could enjoy this moment as well.

Sandslash stretched his arms out wide and fell forward onto its belly on the old dirt road Ash had been walking beside. At first, Ash thought that it was weird that Sandslash would choose to rest in the dirt rather than in the grassy field, though it occurred to him that it might have something to do with Sandslash being a Ground-type Pokémon.

Kingler, on the other hand, didn't seem to have much of an issue with the grass, despite also having a weakness to the Grass-type. The Pincer Pokémon snipped away at a circular patch of grass and sprayed it with a light foam, which he then used as a bed of sorts to rest on.

Haunter had apparently been taking a nap, which was not interrupted by being called out and he just floated around asleep in midair. Ash found the sight almost comical as Haunter's detached hands moved up and down as Haunter started to snore lightly. Ash wasn't exactly sure why Haunter was snoring, though. He was pretty sure that the Ghost-type Pokémon didn't actually need to breathe. He decided to ask Haunter about it later when he got the chance to.

The latest of Ash's Pokémon, Ditto, morphed into the form of a Bellsprout and sank its root into the ground, which began to glow. It took a moment for Ash to realize what it was doing, but it popped into his head that Ditto must have been using Ingrain to rejuvenate itself.

Ash held up the Pokéball that his Fearow was in and stared at it. He wanted to let out the first Pokémon that he had ever captured with the others but unfortunately, it was still fainted from his battle with Duplica and he didn't have any Revives that he could use to heal Fearow.

Ash sighed as he put Fearow's Pokéball back away and took his backpack off. He set it on the ground next to him and leaned back onto the grass, staring up the deep blue sky. It occurred to him that this was the first time he had ever been truly on his own before. It was a weird feeling that he wasn't used to, but there was something almost comforting about it. That's not to say that he had anything against being with others. In fact, he still missed his traveling companions. But it was nice to have a break from everything and simply be by himself. Well, almost alone, anyway. He still had his Pokémon with him. Most of them.

He still wasn't used to not having his Pikachu around with him. Ash and his Pikachu may not have gotten along well at first, but it didn't take long for them to bond with each other. He just hoped that Pika would be alright and that they would be reunited soon. He didn't know much about Pokérus, but he hoped that Pika would be fine by the time Ash could head back to the Indigo Plateau to check up on him.

There was also his other Pikachu, Volty. Ash was confident that she was alright. He had given her to Misty, after all, which meant that she was in good hands. He did wonder how long it would take before Misty and Brock could finish with their assignments and join up with him again.

Ash shuddered as he thought about the other Pokémon that he didn't have with him anymore. The Raticate King. He was beginning to wonder if catching that thing had been the right thing to do back when they encountered it in the sewers underneath Saffron City. It had seemed like the best option at the time, in fact it had been the only option at the time, but Raticate King had proven to be more than Ash could keep control of. Now it was roaming the area around the Indigo Plateau, doing who knows what. He just hoped that it would keep his promise not to do anything bad. It was still hard not to worry about it, though.

* * *

Misty got up out of bed. She had to stop for a moment and hold on to the edge of the bed to keep herself upright as a massive wave of dizziness rushed over her. The doctor had said that she had a concussion but that she should be fine soon. She wasn't feeling too sure about that though. The doctors had also said that they were all ready to leave now and Lorelei was already waiting by the door for Misty and her sisters to get ready.

Once Misty was confident that she would be able to walk without any issue, she went to the door to stand by Lorelei as her sisters did the same. Her sister Daisy had her arm around Bill, who was helping her to stay up even though she didn't need him to. The sight of how lovey-dovey those two had gotten while she was away made Misty feel sick. It also made her think of Ash for some reason, but she didn't know why and quickly brushed the thought out of her head.

"Alright, it looks like we're all ready to go." Lorelei said, in her usual no-nonsense demeanor. "Now, I'm going back to the Indigo Plateau to report in before returning to my Gym. I'd suggest you all head straight back to Cerulean and get some rest."

"Actually…" Misty said weakly. "I want to go to the Indigo Plateau with you. My friends should still be there and I want to meet back up with them."

"Fine, then Misty and I will go back to the Indigo Plateau while everyone else will return to Cerulean. Is that plan alright with everyone?"

The four Sensational sisters and Bill all nodded and confirmed their agreement so Lorelei turned around and opened the door leading out of the hospital room.

"I've already arranged for someone to meet us outside and Teleport us to our destinations. If there are no other objections, then we should head out now."

The group of six headed out of the hospital room and down to the lobby. The hospital seemed kind of busy, but Misty assumed that it must be normal for a major hospital in a city as big as Porta Vista to be this crowded. It was certainly busier than she ever saw the Cerulean Hospital, at any rate, and she and her sisters would go there often to help cheer up and entertain the patients. As they headed out the front door, Misty saw an ambulance pull up and a team of medical personnel rushed to meet it. She caught a glimpse of red hair as they brought two people into the hospital, which caused Misty to absently reach for the orange ponytail on the side of her head and look over at Lorelei's deep crimson hair. Misty shook her head and tried to push the image out of her head. That proved to be a mistake, though, as she suddenly got another dizzy spell and nearly tripped over her own feet.

"Are you okay there?" Violet asked her with more concern in her voice than Misty was used to hearing from any of her sisters.

"I'm fine." Misty responded automatically, though she wasn't completely sure if it was true.

The group continued to make their way through the city, though Lorelei was the only one who actually knew where they were going. Eventually, they reached the local Pokémon Center and Lorelei slowed to a stop, the others following suit.

"We're here." Lorelei said. "Although it would appear that the person who was supposed to meet us here is late. I guess we're just going to have to wait for a moment."


	127. Chapter 127

Daisy held her Cleffa in her left arm so that she had her right hand free to call out her first Pokémon. Bulbasaur emerged from its Pokéball, ready to take on Koga's Muk. The Seed Pokémon used Growl on Muk, causing the purple pile of poisonous sludge to lower its attack. Muk then Sludge Bomb, hurling a large glob of its own body at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was able to dodge the attack, however, and used Take Down to ram itself into Muk. Muk took advantage of Bulbasaur's close proximity and hit her with Pound. Bulbasaur let out a spray of Sleep Powder from the leafy bulb growing out of her back as she was hit by Muk's fist, causing the Sludge Pokémon to fall asleep and leaving it open for Bulbasaur to hit it with a barrage of attacks. Bulbasaur launched a Leech Seed from its bulb so that she could start siphoning away Muk's health and revitalize herself as she pelted Muk with Vine Whip after Vine Whip. Bulbasaur managed to beat Muk before it had a chance to wake up.

As Koga recalled his fainted Muk, Bulbasaur began to glow brightly and grow. The bulb on her opened up to reveal a flower bud as Bulbasaur evolved into an Ivysaur. Daisy didn't have time to celebrate her starter Pokémon's evolution, however, as Koga sent out a Weezing. The Poison Gas Pokémon released a Smokescreen from the holes covering its body, filling the area with a thick, black fog. Neither Daisy nor Ivysaur could see anything through the fog, so Ivysaur let out another spray of Sleep Powder in the hope that she would be able to lull Weezing into a deep sleep before it could attack her. Unfortunately, it didn't work and Ivysaur found herself being Tackled from the side and knocked onto her back. Ivysaur used Vine Whip in the direction that Weezing had just attack from, but Weezing had already moved somewhere else. The Smokescreen was beginning to fade, but it was still hard to see anything and Ivysaur had no way of clearing the air, meaning that all she could do was wait.

Weezing launched a Sludge Bomb at Ivysaur, who was unable to see the attack coming fast enough to dodge and ended up getting hit directly in the face by the attack. Fortunately, she could not be poisoned by it because she was a Poison-type Pokémon herself, but it did force her to have to close her eyes tightly shut to avoid getting the sludge in them. Daisy knew that there was no use in making Ivysaur try to continue to fight in this condition, so she recalled Ivysaur back into her Pokéball and sent out Butterfree to continue the battle. Daisy knew that sending out her narcoleptic Buttefree would be a risk, but it paid off as Butterfree was actually awake for once and used Silver Wind to clear the air of what remained of the Smokescreen, knock Weezing down onto the floor and give herself a boost. Weezing slowly rose up back into the air, but Butterfree hit it with a Psybeam. The blast of psychic energy from Butterfree's antennae proved to be too much for Weezing, who fainted and fell back to the floor again.

Koga's third Pokémon was Arbok, which slithered along the floor after it emerged from its Pokéball. It's Intimidate ability caused Butterfree to lower her physical attack, but that didn't affect the power of her Psybeam, which she fired at Arbok just as it lunged up to strike with Fire Fang. Arbok was knocked back by the attack and rolled on the ground, allowing Butterfree to hit it with another Psybeam. Arbok was then able to get back up spit out an Acid Spray from its mouth, drenching Butterfree in the poisonous fluid. Butterfree used Psybeam again and this time was able to knock Arbok out.

Daisy was surprised by how well she was doing. She had already managed to take out half of Koga's team using only two Pokémon. She hoped that her luck would continue for the rest of the battle as Koga sent out a Venomoth. The Poison Moth Pokémon and Daisy's Butterfree flew in circles around each other in the air, each waiting for the other to attack. After a moment, Venomoth unleashed a wave of Poison Powder from its wings, which scattered through the air and latched onto Butterfree, poisoning her. Butterfree did her best to tough out the potion and used Supersonic to send out a pulse of sound waves that disrupted Venomoth's coordination and caused confused it. Venomoth flew around and accidentally rammed into one of the invisible wall surrounding the relatively small battle arena they were fighting in. Butterfree then hit Venomoth with a Psybeam. Venomoth tried to counter by shooting a Signal Beam at Butterfree but missed and the beam of green light reflected off one of the glass walls and hit Venomoth instead. Venomoth looked like it wouldn't be able to take much more and another Psybeam from Butterfree proved that it couldn't. Venomoth fell to the ground, leaving Koga with only two Pokémon left.

Koga recalled his Venomoth and called out his next Pokémon, Tentacruel. The big blue Jellyfish Pokémon seemed to hover just off the ground and quickly launched a Water Pulse at Butterfree. Butterfree wasn't able to dodge in time and was knocked back into a glass wall. Daisy was surprised at how durable the walls were and assumed that they must have been made out of some sort of enforced glass that was specifically designed to be able to stand up to the abuse they would take during Pokémon battles. Either way, she decided that Butterfree was looking rather tired and decided that it was time to swap her out.

"Butterfree, return!" Daisy said as she held up Butterfree's Pokéball. The Butterfly Pokémon was engulfed in a stream of red Pokénergy and pulled back inside the Pokéball. Daisy then pulled out another Pokéball to call out her next Pokémon. "Let's see what you can do, Poliwag!"

The round blue Tadpole Pokémon hopped up and down excitedly and slapped the ground with its tail, then jumped up and used Double Slap to strike Tentracruel across the face twice. This seemed to make Tentacruel angry and it lashed out with its tentacles, trying to catch Poliwag with Constrict. Poliwag was able to effortlessly dance around just out of Tentacruel's reach and sprayed Bubble from its small pink mouth, which burst right in Tentacruel's face, making it even angrier. Tentacruel continued trying to ensnare Poliwag within its grasp, but Poliwag was able to hop around Tentacruel's tentacles and get close enough to smack Tentacruel with another Double Slap. Furious, Tentacruel tried to hit Poliwag with a Bubblebeam but missed. Poliwag almost seemed to be playing with Tentacruel as it dodged all of Tentacruel's attacks and kept hitting it with Double Slap and Bubble. Eventually, Tentacruel tried to slap Poliwag away when he went up to hit Tentacruel with Double Slap again, but Poliwag dove to the side instead and Tentacruel slapped itself in the face, knocking itself out.

Daisy was surprised to see Poliwag become enveloped in white light it evolved like her Bulbasaur had just a few minutes ago. His tail retracted into his body and he sprouted a pair of arms as he grew over a foot taller than he had been before, becoming a Poliwhirl. Meanwhile, Koga sent out his final Pokémon, Golbat.

The large bat Pokémon unleashed a powerful Supersonic, letting out a powerful screeching noise that was so loud and high pitched that Daisy found herself unable to think straight. Poliwhirl seemed to be affected even worse, as he stumbled around and started firing a Bubblebeam wildly in all directions. Daisy was barely able to avoid getting sprayed herself before Golbat interrupted the attack by swooping down and striking Poliwhirl with a Wing Attack. This snapped Poliwhirl out of its confusion and allowed the evolved Water-type to charge into Golbat with Body Slam before the Golbat could fly out of his range. Golbat was knocked onto the ground, allowing Poliwhirl to use Bubble Beam again, this time actually managing to hit his intended target. Golbat struggled to get off the ground, but Poliwhirl hit it twice with Double Slap, knocking Golbat out.

"This match is concluded." Koga said as he recalled his Golbat. "You are the victor."

"Yeah!" Daisy raised up her right hand and Poliwhirl jumped up, high-fiving her.

"And by winning this battle you have earned a Soul Badge." Koga pulled the pink, heart-shaped badge out of his sleeve and held it out as he walked towards Daisy.

"Thank you." Daisy said politely as she took the badge from him. She pulled out her Badge Case and opened it up, placing her new badge with the five that she already had. "Just two more to go."


	128. Chapter 128

Lorelei and Misty were teleported to just outside the Indigo Plateau. Lorelei headed straight inside through sliding double doors that opened up automatically as she walked up to them. Misty followed after her, looking around for Ash and Carmine. As Lorelei headed straight for the hallway leading back to the offices so that she could fill in her report, Misty wandered over to the Pokémon Center built into the west wing of the main building.

"Hey, Nurse Joy!" She called to the nurse stationed there, who was sitting at her desk working on some sort of word puzzle. "Do you know where Ash is?"

"Wha…" Nurse Joy looked up at her. "Oh, you just missed him. Mr. Noir said that they were heading to Pallet Town."

"Well, that's just great." Misty muttered under her breath.

"I could call a ride for you, Ms. Sensational."

"That would be nice, thank you. But don't call me that. Just call me Misty."

"Of course, Ms. Misty."

Misty let out a sigh of mild annoyance.

"Also," Nurse Joy said. "I wanted to ask you something. If you are going to go see the young Mr. Ketchum, I was wondering if you could deliver his Pikachu to him as well."

"What?" Misty wasn't sure why Ash wouldn't already have his Pikachu with him. The two were completely inseparable.

"His Pikachu came down with a bad case of Pokérus while they were here." Nurse Joy explained. "So he left Pikachu in our care before he left. And now his Pikachu has now made a full recovery and can be discharged, but I can't seem to get in contact with them through the number I was given. Would you mind delivering Pikachu for me?"

"Sure." Misty said, still a bit surprised.

"Great! I'll go get him and call for someone to take you to Pallet Town."

Nurse Joy set down the crossword book she was working on, then turned around and headed into the back area of the Pokémon Center. Misty waited around, tapping her foot impatiently, for a few minutes, before Nurse Joy returned with Pikachu sitting on her shoulder and a Pokéball in her hand.

"Here you go. This is his Pokéball." Nurse Joy said, handing the empty Pokéball to Misty. "And here's Pikachu."

Pika jumped down onto the desk, looking up at Misty excitedly. It was clear that the Electric-type Mouse Pokémon was happy to see Misty again. Misty felt that something seemed different about Pika than she remembered, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Pika jumped up as Misty held out her arms and she caught the Pikachu, holding him close to her.

"Someone should be here to pick you up shortly." Nurse Joy said. "Thank you again for doing this."

* * *

Ash walked along the side of the road with his Pokémon. Fuchsia City had finally come into view off in the distance as they made their way. Ash was excited to finally that their destination was finally in sight and sped up his pace. He had to slow down again, though, because Sandslash and Kingler's shorter legs meant that even though they were running they couldn't keep up with Ash unless if he wasn't going slowly enough for them.

Ditto, on the other hand, was running circles around them in the form of a Dodrio. Ash wondered briefly if he could ride Ditto if he got tired, but figured it probably wouldn't be a good idea. He had only had Ditto for a few hours now, at most, but he had already got the impression that Ditto was kind of a prankster. There was no telling what kind of shenanigans that Ditto would try to pull.

Haunter drifted along to Ash's left, acting as if he still wasn't fully awake yet. Ash wasn't sure why a ghost would even need sleep to begin with but figured that being a Ghost-type Pokémon probably wasn't the same thing as actually being a ghost, despite the similarities.

As they finally reached the edge of the city, Ash recalled his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs. Fuchsia was unlike any city that he had ever seen. The roads seemed to be paved with some kind of red gravel that gave the city a very distinctive feel. Not to mention the fact that only half of the city appeared to actually be a city. Almost everything north of the main road looked more like some kind of zoo. Ash wasn't even sure if this place could even be called a city. It felt more like some sort of strange town.

Ash spotted the familiar red roof of a Pokémon Center at the top of a short hill on the south end of town, which appeared to be where the bulk of the actual city was built. He made his way over there, walking by a fenced off habitat containing a Kangaskhan. On his other side was what looked like the backyard of what had to have been the largest house in town. He had never seen anyone have a lake in their backyard before, though. He thought he saw a Gyarados briefly stick its head out of the water for a second. Ash stared blankly at where it had surfaced for a moment, not sure if he had really seen it. The lake didn't look large enough to have something as large as a Gyarados in it. After a few seconds, he decided to just keep going. He needed to get to the Pokémon Center so that he could heal his Pokémon and call home to let his mom know where he was.

It didn't take long for Ash to make his way to the top of the hill and to the Pokémon Center. As he walked into the Pokémon Center, he passed by a girl with dark brown hair she seemed to scoff at him snobbishly on her way out. Ash looked down at himself and realized that he looked dirty and disheveled but he didn't really care that much. It was just a part of being a Pokémon Trainer, after all. He headed straight for the desk where a nurse was waiting.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center." She said. "Do you want me to heal your Pokémon for you?"

"Yeah." Ash said, placing his four Pokéballs on the tray that the nurse held out to him.

"Alright then. This will just take a moment."

Ash wondered why Pokémon trainers apparently weren't allowed to just use the healing machines themselves. It didn't seem like they were particularly hard to operate and it seemed kind of unnecessary to always have to hand his Pokémon to a nurse every time. He figured that there must be some reason for it, but he didn't really feel like asking as the nurse handed Ash's Pokémon back to him. He took the Pokéballs and put them back on his belt before turning and heading over to where the phones were. He was sure that his mom would be worried sick by now and didn't want to keep her waiting any longer.

He stood in front of the green video phone and dialed home. It was the only phone number that he had ever bothered memorizing. Ash barely had time to pick of the phone and hold it up to his ear before his mom answered and he was staring at his face in the video screen in front of him.

"Oh, Ash, where are you? Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you? I was so worried! You look alright, are you alright? Oh, I hope you're alright!" Delia was speaking so quickly that Ash barely had time to register what she was even saying.

"I'm fine, Mom." Ash tried to reassure her. "I'm in Fuchsia City right now."

"I'm going to send Carmine to come get you right now." Delia said.

"Um…" Ash wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say. "I would actually prefer if you didn't."

"What?" Delia was stunned by this unexpected reply.

"Well, I was thinking that, since I'm here, I might as well continue on my journey. On my own."

"But… why?"

"Well, I just kind of want to prove to myself that I can do this without having Carmine around. It's been nice having him to train me but I want to prove to myself that I can do this without help."

"But…" Delia didn't know what to say.

"Just let the kid go." Ash heard Carmine's voice from the other end of the line. He must have been standing just off-screen. "He's more than capable of handling himself."

"I'm going to get this thing activated or whatever." Ash held up the currently useless Pokégear that she had given him that morning. "So you'll be able to get a hold of me whenever you want."

Ash wasn't sure that he actually wanted his mom to be able to call him at any time, knowing that she would probably be constantly checking up on him, but he knew that it would make her more comfortable letting him stay on his own for a while.

"Okay." Delia relented at last. "But if anything happens, anything at all, I'm sending Carmine right away."


	129. Chapter 129

Ash set the phone down and turned around to leave. A new city meant a new Gym and he was looking forward to getting his second badge that day. If only he could always get things done so quickly. He would have finished his journey a long time ago if it was that easy. Then again, Gym battles get harder the more badges you win so even if he could reach the Gyms quickly, he would still have to train for them. But Ash was still confident that he could take on the next Gym without any problems. That last one was quite easy and even if he would have to face a full team of six Pokémon next time, he knew that his team would be able to handle it. Of course, it would be easier if Ash himself had a full team.

As Ash headed for the door to leave, he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see someone waving at him from the other end of the Pokémon Center.

"Hey, Ash! Over here!"

It took Ash a moment to recognize the trainer that he had met earlier outside of the House of Imite. It took him even longer to remember the guy's name. He walked over to where Shu was sitting. There were eight chairs positioned around a large glass table with two at each side, alternating between blue and yellow cushions. Shu sat in one of the chairs facing the entrance of the Pokémon center. He looked pretty much the same as earlier except that he was now wearing a red baseball cap with a stylized yellow 'PM' on the front. Ash assumed that it was supposed to stand for 'Pokémon Master'. There was another kid sitting in one of the other chairs, who Ash didn't recognize.

"Um, hi." Ash said uncertainly as he walked up and stood behind one of the chairs facing Shu.

"Good to see you again." Shu smiled. "I take you managed to defeat Duplica without any trouble. I take it that she's probably still new to the whole Gym Leader thing because she doesn't seem to be very good at battling yet, but I think that she does have potential. I know I was able to knock out all six of her Pokémon using only my Pikachu and that Mankey that I caught earlier. But I suppose I should probably ask you how you're doing instead of just rambling on about myself."

Ash walked around the chair he was standing behind and sat down in it, taking his backpack off and setting in the floor. He had a feeling that he was going to be there for a while. He noticed that Shu's Pikachu was lying down relaxed on the armrest of his chair and that the other trainer had a Pikachu of his own that was resting on his lap. Ash subconsciously reached a hand over his shoulder to pet his own Pikachu but, of course, his fingers met nothing but air. He tried to pass off the movement by rubbing his shoulder instead.

"I'm fine." Ash said reflexively. "But I was planning on going over to challenge the Fuchsia Gym right now, so if you don't mind…"

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea. Personally, I was planning on taking a break and challenging the Gym tomorrow but I suppose just getting it over with has its merits as well. And how many trainers can say that they managed to get two Gym Badges in one day? I actually don't know but I doubt there are very many. But then again maybe there are a lot that have. In fact, I suppose it's possible that you've already done so yourself and that this will actually be your third badge of the day. I actually don't even know how long you've been a trainer or-"

"Shu!" The other trainer cut him off. "Slow down."

"Right." Shu looked embarrassed. "I'm rambling again, aren't I? Sorry about that."

"I'm Ritchie, by the way." The other trainer said to Ash.

"I'm Ash." He replied. "Ash Ketchum."

Ritchie tried to hold back a chuckle.

"What?" Ash wondered what was so funny.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that 'Ash' is what we used to call Shu when he was younger. Although, if you've already met him, then he probably already told you that."

"I think he did mention that." Ash tried to remember.

"I'm pretty sure that I did." Shu said.

"So, are you two traveling together?" Ash asked.

"No." Ritchie replied.

"We both grew up in Viridian City together but when we both started our Pokémon journeys, we went separate ways." Shu elaborated. "Meeting up here today was actually just a nice coincidence."

"How about you?" Ritchie asked Ash. "Where are you from?"

"Pallet Town." Ash answered. "It's a small town just south of Viridian."

"Yeah, I've heard of it before."

"Hey, does that mean you're related to Graham Ketchum, the famous Pokémon Trainer?" Shu asked excitedly. "I've heard that he lives in Pallet Town too, and you have the same last name."

"Yeah." Ash said. "That's my dad."

"It must be so cool to have a famous Pokémon Trainer for a dad. What's he been up to? I haven't heard of him entering any tournaments or anything the past few years."

Ritchie turned to Shu and started shaking his head quickly. Ash figured that he had probably heard about what happened in the news.

"Um…" Ash looked down at the table. "He… disappeared. Five years ago."

"Oh…" Shu realized from Ash's reaction that it must have been a sore subject, which it was. "I'm sorry to hear that. Um, anyway…"

Shu's attention drifted away as Ash heard the Pokémon Center's front door slide open. He let out a shrill whistle, which caused Ritchie to sigh and bury his face in hand in embarrassment from his friend's behavior. Shu got up quickly, almost knocking his Pikachu onto the floor, and hurried over to greet whoever had just walked in.

"Why, hello!" Shu said energetically to whoever had just entered the Pokémon Center. "My name's Shu, short for Satoshi Shigeru. But you can just call me Shu. What brings such a beautiful girl such as yourself to a place like this?"

"Umm… I need to get my Pokémon healed."

Ash suddenly turned around in his chair, surprised by the familiar voice. Daisy was standing there holding a small, pink and green Pokémon in her arms.

"Hey, Daisy!" Ash waved at her.

"Hi, Ash!" Daisy beamed as she saw him there.

"Daisy. What a fitting name for a delicate young flower such as yourself."

Daisy glared at Shu, apparently having taken that as an insult. "Nice try, but I'm not interested."

"Oh well." Shu shrugged and started walking back to the table. "It was worth a try."

Daisy went to talk to the nurse and get her Pokémon healed while Shu returned to his seat.

"So, I take it you know that girl." Ritchie said to Ash, trying to ignore Shu.

"Yeah, that's my friend Daisy." Ash said. "She's from Pallet Town, too."

"Interesting." Ritchie said. "I guess this must just be the place to meet up with old friends."

"Maybe." Ash shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that it's just a coincidence, though."

"Two pairs of old friends meeting up at the same place on the same day seems like an awfully big coincidence, though."

"I think you might be looking too deeply into this." Shu said. "And this is me saying that."

"I know." Ritchie laughed.

Daisy walked up to them and sat down in one of the chairs on the side of the table no one was sitting at yet.

"So what are we talking about over here?" She asked.

"Nothing, really." Ash said.

"Hi, my name is Ritchie." Ritchie introduced himself. "And my rather rude friend over here is Shu, but he already told you that."

"I'm Daisy." Daisy leaned forward and set her Cleffa down on the table. The baby Pokémon looked around and sat down, a big smile on its face.

"Is that a shiny?" Shu asked with intrigue.

"That's what I've been told, anyway." Daisy shrugged. "I don't really care about that though. I'd love my little baby Cleffa either way."

"Wait, what's a shiny?" Ash asked, confused about what they were talking about.

"A shiny Pokémon is a rare kind of Pokémon that has a different coloration than normal." Shu explained. "They're supposed to be extremely rare. Most trainers are lucky to ever even see one, let alone capture one."

"That sounds interesting." Ash said. "I wonder if I'll ever find one."

"I doubt it. The changes of ever encountering one are supposed to be well below one in a thousand."


	130. Chapter 130

Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Zoroark and Jigglypuff all stood around in the alleyway between the Cerulean City Gym and the Pokémon Center next door to it, continuing to argue about what they should do since the Gym was closed. They were all too busy to notice the three older members of the Sensational Sisters walk past the alleyway towards the Gym and just continued trying to come up with something to do that they could all agree on.

"Look!" Bulbasaur yelled at the others. "Why don't we just split up and do our own things for now, then meet up here again tomorrow and see if the Gym is open yet."

"I suppose that does sound like a good idea." Squirtle stroked his chin in an attempt at looking contemplative.

"Seems good to me." Charmander said enthusiastically.

"That would be fair." Zoroark nodded.

"Whatever." Jigglypuff didn't seem as pleased as the others.

"Alright then! Squirtle raised a fist into the air dramatically. "We will meet up back here again in twenty-four hours!"

The group of five headed out of the alleyway and into the city, where they parted ways. However, as Zoroark used her Illusion ability to reassume her Zahira Darhk disguise and walked by the entrance to the Gym, she suddenly turned back and called out to the others before they wandered too far off.

"Hey, look! It's open now!"

The other four Pokémon all headed back to her with surprised looks on their faces.

"What, already?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Yeah." Zoroark pointed to the door. "The sign that said it was closed is gone and the lights are on now. The Gym Leader must have just come back while we were trying to decide what to do."

"Now if only they could have gotten here a little sooner." Squirtle muttered. "We could have avoided this whole thing and just went straight to challenging the Gym."

"Well, what's done is done." Zoroark shrugged. "Now, let's just go get this over with. Bulbasaur is up first, right?"

"Yep." Bulbasaur nodded. "I think I that I should be ready for this, so let's go."

Zoroark stepped closer to the door, which slid open to allow her and the others to head inside the Gym. They were immediately hit by the smell of chlorine, though Squirtle was the only one to actually know what it was, as they headed over to the large pool that filled the center of the Gym. Daisy, Violet and Lily were talking about something together and were surprised to see Zoroark and the others come up to them.

"Can we help you?" Violet asked Zoroark.

"I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader." Zoroark said.

Violet turned back to her sisters with an expression that suggested that she was unsure about something, but then Daisy raised her hand.

"I accept your challenge." Daisy said and started walking over to the other end of the pool.

"Are you sure about this?" Lily asked her oldest sister.

"Yeah, sure." Daisy said weakly. "Why not?"

Daisy reached her spot and pulled out a Pokéball.

"I think I've heard of you from some of the other Gym Leaders." She called out to Zoroark. "You're Zahira Darhk, right?"

"Um, yes." Zoroark had to think for a moment to remember her fake name.

"Alright." Daisy let out a soft sigh and grabbed the side of her face with her left hand. "I'm not feeling too great right now, so let's get this done quickly. If you can knock out all three of my Pokémon using up to three of your own, then you win. If I knock your three Pokémon first, then you lose."

"Right." Zoroark nodded.

"Then let's get this battle started. Go, Goldeen!"

The white and orange Goldfish Pokémon emerged from Daisy's Pokéball and dove into the pool while Bulbasaur stood in front of Zoroark and prepared himself for the battle. He was a disadvantage due to being limited to his spot while Goldeen had free range of the entire area. He decided that the best course of action would be to wait for Goldeen to strike, then hit it with his own move. He waited as Goldeen swam around the pool, looking like it was considering its own options before it jumping out of the water in front of Bulbasaur so that it could hit him with a Peck attack using its horn. Bulbasaur slapped Goldeen to the side with his Vine Whip and followed it up with a Leech Seed. The seed hit Goldeen just under its left fin as it fell back into the water, taking root and hindering Goldeen's maneuverability, in addition to slowly draining its health. Goldeen struggled to swim around to the other side of the pool without being able to use its left fin properly but was slow enough that Bulbasaur was able to hit by launching a pair of Razor Leaves at Goldeen. Goldeen was barely able to hold on after the attack but had enough strength to turn around and fire a water Pulse from its horn at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was hit directly in the face by the attack and become momentarily confused. He flailed his vine around and accidentally whipped himself with them while Goldeen swam up and jumped out of the water. The Water-type slammed into Bulbasaur horn-first using Peck, which caused Bulbasaur to take a step back and whip his vines around even more, hitting Goldeen and knocking it out.

Daisy recalled Goldeen and sent out her next Pokémon, Dewgong. The majestic white Sea Lion Pokémon dove into the water like Goldeen had and used Icy Wind. It felt like the temperature in the Gym must have dropped at least twenty degrees and the pool started to freeze over. Dewgong jumped up onto the newly created sheet of ice covering the surface of the water as it formed. Bulbasaur saw this as an opportunity and jumped down onto the ice. He and his opponent would now have equal footing, or so Bulbasaur thought. Unfortunately for him, he had not taken into account how slippery the ice would be and ended up sliding right into the side of the pool. Dewgong did not hesitate to attack Bulbasaur while he was vulnerable and blasted a Signal Beam from the horn on its head. The Bug-type move hit Bulbasaur from behind as he tried to get back onto his feet and sent him ricocheting off of the wall and around the frozen pool. Dewgong then used Ice Shard, condensing the moister in the air into a large cone of ice which dropped down onto the frozen-over water and cracked the layer of ice. Dewgong followed it up with another Ice Shard, followed by another until the sheet of ice covering the pool shattered and Bulbasaur fell into the icy water. Bulbasaur managed to pull himself up onto a frozen chunk of ice but used the last of his strength to do so and promptly collapsed.

Squirtle sighed as he walked up to the side of the pool. Things were not going according to plan. Bulbasaur was supposed to take down at least two of the Gym Leader's Pokémon, but what was done was done. Squirtle dove into the icy water and swam up to Bulbasaur and was able to pick him up and carry him out to the edge of the pool, where Zoroark grabbed Bulbasaur and lifted him up. Daisy and her sister watched this and were confused as to why 'Zahira' didn't simply recall Bulbasaur into its Pokéball like any other trainer would, but none of them decided to question her about it right then.

With that done, Squirtle turned around to face Dewgong and jumped up onto a chunk of floating ice. His options of effective moves to use against Dewgong were limited, but fortunately, the Water and Ice-type Dewgong likely didn't have very many moves that would be effective against Squirtle, either. Dewgong fired a Signal Beam at Squirtle, who side-jumped out of the way and into the water. He navigated around the chunks of frozen ice that filled the pool as Dewgong dove into the water as well. Squirtle had never been so glad that Samantha used to enter him into all of those Beartic Swim challenges back in the day, which made Squirtle used to swimming in this kind of environment. Unfortunately, Dewgong was even more comfortable swimming around the ice-filled water, which meant that Squirtle's past experiences merely helped even the odds rather than give him an advantage. Still, Squirtle had confidence in himself and was sure that he could win this battle.


	131. Chapter 131

Squirtle dove under a particularly large chunk of ice as Dewgong zigzagged through the water towards him. As Dewgong approached, Squirtle swam back up and Tackled Dewgong with enough force to knock Dewgong out of the water, where it landed on a patch of ice. Squirtle jumped out of the water after Dewgong, only to get hit with a Signal Beam and get sent flying back into the edge of the pool. Squirtle felt the air get knocked out of his lungs as his shell collided with the side of the pool and he sank into the freezing cold water.

Squirtle found the settling in his mind that perhaps, even after all of his training, he was still far too under-leveled to actually stand a chance in this fight. He tried to shove that thought out of his mind, though. Now was not the time to be second-guessing himself. He needed to concentrate on the battle and try harder to defeat his opponent.

Dewgong dove back into the water and swam over to Squirtle, Headbutting him before Squirtle was able to swim out of the way. Squirtle knew now that he was outmatched, so he did the only thing that he could. Squirtle used Withdraw, retracting into his shell in the hope that he could by himself enough time to come up with a plan on how to beat Dewgong. Unfortunately, he was running out of air and would soon have to swim back up to the surface of the water so that he could breathe. Combined with Dewgong repeatedly ramming into Squirtle, he knew that he was in a very bad situation that he needed to find a way out of. Unfortunately, no opportunities presented themselves and he was forced to try and swim up for air. As soon as Squirtle pulled his head and limbs out of his shell, Squirtle found himself being knocked upward by a particularly strong Headbutt from Dewgong. The force of the attack sent Squirtle flying up out of the water and he landed flat on his back next to Zoroark. He tried to stand back up again, but the last of Squirtle's strength failed him and he collapsed.

Charmander gulped audibly as he stared at Squirtle in horror. He slowly turned his gaze to the icy pool, where Dewgong was waiting. It was all up to him now, but Charmander knew that there was no way that he would stand even the slightest chance against Dewgong. Despite his fear, Charmander inched his way slowly to the edge of the pool, holding his tail defensively behind him to try and prevent it from getting wet. Charmander still remembered the torturous pain he had been in when he had to stay out in the pouring rain after Damion had abandoned him and had absolutely no desire to have to go through that again.

Once he had reached the side of the pool and looked down at Dewgong, who was lying on a large chunk of ice, waiting for him. Charmander already knew that this battle would end in his swift defeat, but despite that he called up as much of his power as he could to let out the strongest Ember that he could muster. Dewgong was unable to dodge the attack but still seemed relatively fine despite taking the full force of Charmander's Ember. Dewgong's face suddenly contorted in extreme effort, as if it were trying to lift something up that was far too heavy. After a moment, the pure white Sea Lion Pokémon released a blast of Sheer Cold. Charmander felt like the blood running through his veins was icing over as his entire body froze up and he fell onto his back before passing out from the cold. The battle was over.

"Well…" Daisy said awkwardly, clearly having expected a bit more from 'Zahira's' team. "Better luck next time, I guess."

* * *

Misty looked around as she walked through the streets of Pallet Town. It occurred to her that she had no idea where she was actually going.

"You know where Ash lives, right?" Misty asked the Pikachu resting on her shoulder.

Pika nodded and pointed towards what appeared to be an inn. Misty was confused for a moment, before remembering that she had been told that Ash's mom managed the Pallet House. She was fairly sure that Ash and his mom did not actually live there but she didn't have any better ideas, so she made her way towards it. Just as she almost reached the entrance of the Pallet House, however, the front door of the house just across the street opened up and a familiar man with dark red hair walked out.

"Carmine?" Misty turned and ran to him.

"What are you doing here?" Carmine asked her as she got close, before he notices Pika on her shoulder.

"I wanted to see Ash." Misty explained. "I've got something for him."

"I can see that." Carmine nodded. "Unfortunately, you've just missed him."

"What?" Misty wasn't counting on that.

"Yeah. He's actually in Fuchsia right now."

Misty stared at Carmine, dumbstruck. Her jaw dropped slightly.

"It's a long story." Carmine shrugged. "Which I'm sure he'll be more than willing to tell you when we get there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure, why not. We agreed that I won't be traveling with him anymore but that doesn't mean that I can't give you a lift to go see him. It's not like I have anything better to do right now."

"Thank you." Misty said. "It sounds like a lot has changed since I left."

"It's been a long day." Carmine shrugged. "And I'm sure it's probably been even longer for the birthday boy, so let's not keep him waiting any longer then he has to."

"Wait, it's Ash's birthday?" Misty gasped.

"Yeah, it is. Now let's get going already."

"But shouldn't I get him a present or something?"

"Is that really what you're thinking about right now?" Carmine sighed. "Getting that Pikachu back is probably going to be the best thing he could hope for. Plus, he seems pretty fond of you, so that'll be a bonus."

Misty blushed and looked down at her feet.

"Oh, grow up." Carmine sighed again and pulled out an Ultra Ball. "Now let's get this show on the road before you waste any more of my time. If you have any more questions, just ask Ash when you see him."

"Right." Misty looked up again. "So will we be teleporting or…"

"We're flying." Carmine sent out his Skarmory. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No." Misty shook her head. "I was just wondering."

Carmine climbed up on the back of his Armor Bird Pokémon and patted it on the head. "She's strong enough to carry us both there, but you're going to have to hold on tight."

"Are you sure we can't just teleport there or something?" Misty asked.

"If I had a Pokémon that could use Teleport then we'd already be there right now. Now get on or we're taking off without you."

"Right." Misty rushed over and climbed on Skarmory's back behind Carmine. She put her arms tightly around his waist as Pika climbed down and nestled between them as comfortably as he could.

A moment later and they were off, soaring through the skies above Kanto. Misty clung on tightly to avoid falling off the big metal bird and Pika had to hold himself steady between the two humans. Misty was surprised at how fast Skarmory was able to go and was glad that it didn't take very long before they slowed down and landed right in front of the Pokémon Center in Fuchsia City.

"We're here." Carmine said as Misty let go of him and stepped back onto the ground.

"I noticed." Misty's felt like everything was swirly around for a moment before Pika jumped back up onto her shoulders.

"Then what are you standing around out here for?" Carmine asked as he recalled his Skarmory back into its Ultra Ball. "He's probably still inside."

"Right." Misty headed for the Pokémon Center's entrance. The twin doors slid open as she walked up to them and headed inside.

It only took a few seconds for Pika to spot his trainer and jump down onto the floor, running towards where Ash was talking with some other trainers. Misty tried to stifle a laugh at Ash's surprised reaction as Pika suddenly jumped up onto his chair to greet him, then walked up behind Ash's chair and looked down at Ash right as he happened to look up. The look on Ash's face was priceless.


	132. Chapter 132

"Misty?" Ash blurted out in shocked surprise as he looked up at the redheaded Gym Leader standing over him.

Pika rubbed his face against Ash's chest affectionately, happy to be reunited with his trainer. The Pikachu's cheeks brushing up against Ash were sending a small electrical current running through him, that was nothing compared to the shock of Pika and Misty's sudden and unexpected appearances. Before Ash could come up with anything else to say, but to his mild surprise, Shu spoke up instead.

"Why, hello there. My name is Satoshi Shigeru but you can call be Shu." Misty looked up at the unfamiliar trainer who she was sure she had never seen before, who had suddenly gotten up and walked over to her when she hadn't been looking. "So you're Misty, huh? I take it that you must be the youngest of the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City. I had always heard that the fourth Sensational sister was supposed to be the least beautiful but clearly those rumors were false. Why, it actually feels like a shame that I had to go up against one of your sisters when I challenged the Cerulean Gym since that means that I missed out on the change to see your beautiful face before now."

Misty blushed slightly, partly embarrassed by the unexpected attention. She wasn't entirely sure how to react, but it was always nice being told that she was better than her sisters. Misty thought that Shu's mannerisms kind of reminded her of the first time that she had met Brock.

"I didn't think that I'd see you again so soon." Ash stood up quickly, holding Pika in his arms as he turned to face Misty. He glared at Shu through the corner of his eye for a split second before turning his gaze back to Misty. "How did it go?"

"That's a bit of a long story." Misty said awkwardly. "Let's just say that we weren't really able to find anything out. I headed back to the Indigo Plateau when we finished, but the nurse told me that you had already left and asked me to bring Pika to you. Then I got a lift to Pallet Town, only to find that you weren't there either, so Carmine ended up having to fly me all of the way over here."

Shu glanced back and forth between Misty and Ash. He then gave a sly grin and backed off, sitting back down in his chair. Both of his and Ritchie's Pikachu had jumped up onto the glass table and were trying to get a better look at the third Pikachu that Ash was holding.

"Huh, that's odd." Misty said as he looked back behind her. "I thought Carmine had come in here with me. I wonder where he went."

"Who knows with him?" Ash shrugged. "But it's nice to see you again. And thank you for bringing Pika back to me. I was worried about him."

"No problem." Misty said. "So, what's going on here, anyway?"

"Hi, Misty!" Daisy waved.

It took Misty a moment to realize who Daisy was since she hadn't seen her since the S.S. Anne, but she waved back. Ash sat back down and Misty walked around to take a seat next to him.

"It's nice to meet you." Ritchie said, nodding politely. "My name's Ritchie and, well, I guess Shu here already introduced himself. We were all just telling each other stories about our Pokémon journeys so far."

Ash let go of Pika, who jumped off his lap and onto the table where the other two Pikachu and Daisy's Cleffa were. The three Electric-type Mouse Pokémon seemed to introduce themselves to each other, while Cleffa danced around happily. Misty suddenly remembered something and pulled out a Pokéball, letting Volty out to play with the other Pikachu. Pika and Volty immediately ran up to each other and rubbed their cheeks together, sending sparks flying around them.

"Am I the only one here who doesn't have a Pikachu?" Daisy asked sarcastically.

"It would appear so." Shu laughed.

"Well, Volty is actually Ash's." Misty pointed out. "I've just been holding on to her for a while. So, what exactly happened to put you all the way over here, Ash?"

"Didn't Carmine tell you when he brought you here?" Ash asked.

Misty glared at Ash silently.

"No, I guess he wouldn't do that." Ash laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Seriously, how did you end up going from the Indigo Plateau to Pallet Town all the way out here in Fuchsia City within a day?" Misty asked.

"It's a long story." Ash replied.

"I have time." Misty folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"Wait." Shu said. "I thought you only had five badges. Why were you already at the Indigo Plateau?"

"Five badges?" Daisy repeated in surprise. "You have one less than me? I thought I would have behind the rest of you by now."

"Hey, you know what?" Ash tried to change the subject. "I just remembered that I was going to go challenge the Fuchsia Gym. I should probably go do that now before it gets too late."

"What are you talking about?" Ritchie asked. "It's still just early afternoon. You still have plenty of time to take on the Gym today."

"Come on, Pika! Let's get going!" Ash quickly stood up and slipped his backpack on, then held his arm out just long enough his Pikachu to jump on and climb up to his shoulder before turning around and running out of the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Red, Yellow and Sable sat down on a bench in the park directly across from the Celadon Department Store after they had finished shopping. Red was sure that he had never spent so much money before in his life and the fact that he could actually afford it amazed him. He wasn't used to actually having enough money to just spend it on things.

"That was fun." Sable said.

"Yeah!" Yellow agreed.

"Not exactly something that we can do on a regular basis, though." Red sighed. He may have been able to afford it, but they had still burnt through a lot of what he had saved up since starting his journey. "But it will be nice to finally have enough sleeping bags for everyone."

"I've never actually used a sleeping bag before." Sable mused as she held the new straw sunhat she had gotten and pulled out a pair of feathers from a pocket sewn into her dark purple dress. She stuck the two feathers into the side of the hat and put it on. The feathers seemed to catch the sunlight in such a way that one seemed to reflect a rainbow of color while the other sparkled silver.

"Woah." Yellow seemed mesmerized by the hat.

"Have you been carrying those around this entire time?" Red asked Sable.

"Yes." Sable nodded. "They were given to me a long time ago."

Red waited for her to elaborate, but it was clear that she was done talking about it. Yellow decided to take off backpack that Red had just gotten for her and set in on the ground by Red, then ran off towards the large fountain in front of them, which seemed to be the centerpiece of the park.

"Don't run off too far!" Red called after her.

"I won't!" She yelled back.

"That girl just won't stay still for very long." Red leaned back against the bench.

"It's in her nature." Sable said. "We were all like that once, full of excitement and waiting to explore the world around us."

"I guess." Red sighed.

"And I feel like being around her has started to bring back that part of me."

Sable stood up on the bench and held her arms out to her sides, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of the sunshine and the slight breeze that was blowing by. Red looked up at her and for a moment she almost seemed to have a faint pink glow around her but it disappeared as he blinked. Red figured that it must have just been the sunlight playing a trick on his eyes.

"What are you staring at?" Sable asked as she opened her eyes again and looked down at Red.

"Nothing." Red said quickly as he turned back to watch Yellow run around the fountain with Chuchu and Eve.


	133. Chapter 133

Ash ran down the street as he hurried over to the Gym, Pika clinging tightly onto his shoulder. He was able to find the Gym easily and rushed inside. He spotted the Gym Leader sitting in the middle of the room right away and walked up to challenge him, only to run face-first into an invisible wall. He took a step back and stood there for a moment before holding his hand out against the reinforced glass.

"What?" Ash muttered to himself as he walked along the wall, keeping his hand out to feel around for when it ended.

When Ash reached the edge of the glass wall, he went around it and tried to head straight to the Gym Leader again. Unfortunately for Ash, he ran into another glass wall. He tried not to curse as took a step away from the glass wall. It was obvious that this was supposed to be some kind of invisible maze. Ash had no idea why this maze was here, but he felt like he really didn't have time to try and make his way through it.

Ash closed his eyes and started breathing slowly. It came to him faster this time than it had back in the House of Imite just earlier that day. The glass walls that were more or less invisible to his eyes were as clearly visible to him as anything else with this second sight that he was developing. He still had no idea how this worked or why he was able to see things this way, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

Now that he was able to 'see' the walls of the maze clearly, he was able to navigate through it without any trouble. He noticed as he walked around the Gym that there seemed to be passageways underneath the floor. He thought this was odd at first, a feeling that only increased as a woman ran through one of those passageways leading to where the Gym Leader was sitting. He watched as the dark purple figure of the Gym Leader stood up and went through some sort of trap door beneath him, while the lighter purple figure of the person below climbed up and took his place. It took Ash a moment to realize what was going on before he remembered that Gym's tended to have more than one Leader. He had likely just seen two of the Gym Leaders here change shifts or something along those lines.

It didn't take Ash very long to get through the maze. He opened his eyes just as he turned the final corner to where the new Gym Leader was waiting.

"My name is Ash Ketchum and I challenge you to a Gym battle." Ash said.

"I am Aya of the Fuchsia City Gym." The dark-green haired Gym Leader said. "Now let's get started, shall we?"

Aya pulled a Pokéball out from her sleeve and held it out. A giant ball of purple ooze splatted onto the ground. A pair of eyes slowly opened up as the Muk opened its mouth and stretched out an arm from its sludge-like body. Ash grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and sent out his own Pokémon.

"You can do this, Haunter!"

The Ghost and Poison-Type Pokémon emerged from his Pokéball, floating in the air with a serious expression on his face.

"Very good." Aya said. "Sending out a Poison-type against me may not give you an advantage in this fight, but using a Poison-type means that I can't inflict Poison on your Pokémon, severely limiting my potential strategies."

Ash blinked. He hadn't even taken that into consideration. He had sent out Haunter first simply because he was one of his strongest fighters. He wasn't sure how well Fearow or Kingler would do in this battle and he had decided that Ditto's versatility and power made it best suited for if he didn't have any other options. Sandslash would have a type advantage against Aya's Poison-type Pokémon, but Ash felt like saving him for later, just in case. He actually would have preferred to send Pika out first, since this was their first battle together again, but unfortunately Misty hadn't given him the Pikachu's Pokéball yet, which meant that Pika wasn't officially a part of his team again right now and he wouldn't be allowed to use him. Plus, he would have had to take someone out of his team, since he already had six Pokémon, including the egg that Professor Oak had given him. Ash briefly wondered when he had started putting this much thought into which Pokémon he would lead a battle with. Pushing that thought aside, Ash shifted his focus onto the battle.

Muk used Minimize to reduce its size, shrinking down to around half of its original size to make it harder for Haunter to his it. While it shrunk, Haunter used Confuse Ray on Muk, causing it to become confused. In its confusion, Muk ended up punching itself in the face by mistake. While Muk was distracted by its own inadvertent attack, Haunter hit Muk with a Shadow Punch. Muk tried to throw a Sludge Bomb at Haunter but ended up throwing straight up, where it then fell back down and hit Muk. Haunter followed that up with another Shadow Punch. After taking several more hits without being able to attack Haunter at all, Muk finally collapsed.

Aya sent out her second Pokémon, a Weezing. The Poison Gas Pokémon floated around in the air, facing Haunter with an angry expression on the larger of its two heads, while the smaller head seemed bored and wasn't paying attention to what was going on around it. Weezing didn't act at first, so Haunter hit it with a Sucker Punch. Weezing was knocked back by the attack but quickly recovered and used Assurance, ramming into Haunter while engulfed in a shroud of energy. Haunter drifted away from Weezing, unused to taking a direct impact like that, and decided to Spite Weezing. A flash of red glinted in Haunter's eyes as he glared at Weezing, who suddenly found itself drained of the energy needed for another attack like that.

Aya decided that the best course of action now was to have her Weezing use Smokescreen, temporarily filling the area with a thick black fog that would make it harder for Haunter to be able to attack Weezing. What she didn't count on was Haunter using Night Shade to send out a pulse of ghostly energy in every direction. The move proved enough to take down Weezing, while not affecting Ash or Aya at all despite them both standing in range of the attack.

With two of her Pokémon down, Aya sent out her Arbok. The large purple snake slithered around the ground. It was unable to use its eye to see due to the smokescreen still filling the air, but was able to detect Haunter's position by scent. Arbok made its way behind Haunter and got ready to strike. Ash could sense Arbok's movements and was about to warn Haunter of the oncoming attack, but was too late. Arbok shot up from the ground almost like a bolt of lightning and bit Haunter using a Crunch attack. Haunter let out a brief howl of pain and hit Arbok with a Shadow Punch, for once glad that he had hands. Arbok was knocked back onto the ground as Haunter gathered energy and threw a Shadow Ball at where he was sure that Arbok must have landed. The attack hit but was not enough to knock out Arbok, who leapt up at Haunter and used Crunch again. Both Pokémon fell to the ground, with Haunter knocked out.

Ash recalled Haunter back into his Pokéball and pulled out his next one. The smoke was finally beginning to clear as Ash sent out his Sandslash. Arbok tried to use Crunch on Sandslash, but the spiky Pokémon used Defense Curl so that Arbok ended up biting into Sandslash's tough spikey shell, hurting itself more than Sandslash. Sandslash then unrolled itself and swiped the air with its claws, creating a tornado of sand and causing Arbok to be engulfed within the Sand Tomb. Arbok was tossed around by the sand, leaving it open for Sandslash to use Defense Curl again and then slam into Arbok with Rollout, knocking out the Cobra Pokémon.

Sandslash continued rolling around the floor as Aya recalled her Arbok and sent out a Venomoth. However, almost as soon as the Poison Moth Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball, Sandslash suddenly jumped up from the floor, continuing to roll around, and slammed into Venomoth. Venomoth tried to use Silver Wind on Sandslash but wasn't fast enough and Sandslash rammed into Venomoth with Rollout again, knocking it out.

"You're doing much better than I thought you would." Aya said as she recalled her Venomoth. "But don't get your hopes up. This battle is about to turn around in my favor."


	134. Chapter 134

Aya pulled out a Pokéball and sent out her fifth Pokémon of the match: Tentacruel. The moment that the big blue squid-like Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball, Ash knew that he was in trouble. He wasn't very familiar with Tentacruel's ability but it was obviously a Water-type, which put his Ground-Type Sandslash at a big disadvantage. On the other hand, Tentacruel must have been a Poison-type as well if Aya was using it, which meant that it would still be weak to Sandslash's attacks like all of her other Pokémon. Or at least, it would be weak to Sandslash's attacks once Sandslash was finally finished with it Rollout.

Tentacruel didn't even seem to flinch as Sandslash crashed into it and shot out a Bubble Beam from the central jewel on its head. Sandslash was knocked into one of the reinforced glass walls surrounding them and fell to the ground, almost out of energy. Ash was surprised at how much punishment those walls were able to handle but didn't have time to think about it because the battle was still going on.

"Sandslash, return!" Ash called out as he held up Sandslash's Pokéball. He wasn't going to just stand around and watch his Pokémon get beaten when he didn't have to. This left him with a bit of a dilemma of who to send out next, though. He really wished that he hadn't run off to the Gym like he did because if he hadn't, then he would actually be able to use Pika right now. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option unless he wanted to be disqualified from the battle. "Go, Kingler!"

The orange Pincer Pokémon landed on the hardwood floor in front of Ash and snapped its claws menacingly at Tentacruel. Tentacruel responded by thrusting one of its tentacles at Kingler with Poison Jab. Pincer was hit by the attack and infected by Tentacruel's poison but was able to grab the tentacle and squeeze it with Vice Grip. Tentacruel tried to use Bubble Beam to force Kingler to release his grip but Kingler countered with a Bubble Beam of his own. The two powerful streams of bubbles collided in midair and resulted in an explosion of water across the battlefield. Kingler then jumped forward with more power and agility than would be expected from the crab-like Pokémon and uppercuted Tentacruel with a Metal Claw while still holding its tentacle firmly in its large left pincer. The attack didn't do much damage but it was able to through Tentacruel off balance. Kingler took the opportunity to attack while Tentacruel was stunned and let go of the tentacle he was holding to fire a Mud Shot at Tentacruel. The mud covered the Jellyfish Pokémon's face, forcing Tentacruel to keep its eyes shut tightly and effectively blinding it.

Tentacruel jabbed at the air with its tentacles, each glowing purple with the power of its Poison Jab. However, each attempt at an attack completely missed Kingler, who was able to fire two more Mud Shots at Tentacruel before it collapsed, motionless on the ground.

"I was expecting Tentacruel to get a lot more done than that." Aya said, a bit stunned as she recalled Tentacruel back into its Pokéball. "To be honest, I think that you've probably won this battle already. But I do still have one more Pokémon left for to beat before you can claim your prize."

Aya sent out her final Pokémon, a Golbat. The blue Bat Pokémon was much larger than Ash would have thought it was, being almost as tall as Ash himself. But then again, size wasn't everything and it was only about a foot taller than Kingler anyway, so Ash wasn't worried about that. In fact, Ash wasn't worried at all.

Golbat let out a loud Screech, forcing Kingler to drop its defenses and making him more vulnerable to Golbat's attacks. Ash and Kingler weren't going to let Golbat get any attacks in after that, though, as they already had a plan.

"You know what to do!" Ash yelled.

The inside of Kingler's left pincer began to glow light blue as he pointed it at Golbat. Golbat didn't have time to move out of the way before Kingler fired a powerful Ice Beam from his pincer that hit Golbat's right wing, encasing it in ice. Golbat dropped to the ground with a loud thud, unable to support the added weight of the ice, let alone fly with it. Golbat tried to launch an Air Cutter at Kingler with his free wing but wasn't able to finish the attack in time before Kingler fired another Ice Beam and that wing was trapped in ice as well.

Golbat was left almost defenseless before Kingler but wasn't ready to give up yet. It gave a Supersonic screech that caused Kingler to become confused, making Kingler trip over his own legs as he tried to launch a third Ice Beam to finish of Golbat. Kingler was injured by the fall, which combined by the poison that had been running through his system this entire time, proved to be enough to make Kingler faint.

"You did good." Ash told his fainted Pokémon as he recalled Kingler back into its Pokéball. "Now, Fearow, finish this with an Aerial Ace!"

The mighty bird Pokémon almost seemed to shoot out of his Pokéball like it was a cannon, slamming into Golbat beak first with enough force to send Golbat flying back a foot or two despite the heavy ice still weighing it down. Fearow landed on the ground and looked up at the sky triumphantly as Golbat fell face first onto the floor.

"Well, looks like you win after all." Aya said as she recalled her final Pokémon. "Of course it's really not that hard to beat a Gym Leader. Our teams and strategies are so limited that we can't really go all out against trainers like you. If this had been a _real_ fight then I could have wiped the floor with you. I mean, just my Nincada alone could have-"

"Enough, sister."

Aya jumped and froze in shock before slowly turning around to face the man standing behind her, not having noticed him climb out from the trap door hidden in the floor.

"K-Koga." She stammered. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long." Koga replied. "But long enough to see you disgrace yourself. There is no need for you to dismiss your own defeat like this. Now, go home and meditate on what you need to improve in yourself."

"Fine." Aya's shoulders shrugged as she trudged towards the trap door and left.

"I am sorry for that." Koga said, turning to Ash. "I am afraid thatmy younger sister still needs to learn humility."

"It's fine." Ash didn't really see why this was a big deal.

"I was able to watch some of your battle and I must say that I was quite impressed. While what my sister said about our teams being highly regulated and restricted in official Gym matches is correct, those limitations are there to ensure that those who challenge us are able to learn new ways to overcome specific challenges. It also allows us to make sure that the trials that trainers go through remain relatively consistent regardless of which Gym Leaders they end up fighting and to make sure that you are always up against an opponent that is just at the right level of challenge."

"I think that Misty and Brock have mentioned that to me before." Ash noted.

"Ah, yes. You are the one who they have been traveling with as of late. Ash Ketchum." Koga nodded and pulled something out of his sleeve. "I remember seeing you at the Indigo Plateau but I did not get a chance to introduce myself to you then. I am Koga of Fuchsia City and it is my honor to present you with this Soul Badge as a reward for your victory over my sister."

Koga stepped forward and held out the pink, heart-shaped badge, which Ash accepted from him.

"Thank you." Ash said enthusiastically as he pinned the badge to the inside of his jacket. "By the way, I wanted to ask you something…"

"You wish to challenge me to a battle." Koga stated before Ash could ask. "I am afraid that would be pointless right now. You have already earned the Soul Badge and if I were to fight you as a Gym Leader, the results would be no different than the battle that you just won."

"But what about-"

"And while I believe that you are an exceptional trainer for your level, I do not believe that you have reached the point necessary to take me on in a serious match yet. While I have heard of your battle with Giovanni, that victory was due to a combination of your opponent not being properly prepared for a battle and underestimating your skill."

"Oh." Ash said, looking down at the floor.

"That being said," Koga continued, "you are close. Come back here when you have a bit more experience under your belt and I will be perfectly willing to take you on in an all-out battle. In fact, I may even be willing to teach you some of my higher-level techniques."

"Yes!" Ash yelled a bit louder than he should have. "I mean, thank you. I'll look forward to it."

"As will I." Koga nodded. "But for now I think that you should go. It looks like your friends are waiting for you."

Ash turned around and was surprised to see Misty and Daisy watching them from the entrance of the Gym.

"Oh, uh… right." Ash turned back to Koga but was surprised to see that the Gym Leader had vanished. "I guess I'll be going then."


	135. Chapter 135

"Alright, I think it's about time that we get going." Red stood up as Yellow walked back to the bench where he and Sable were, carrying Eve in her arms while Chuchu was resting on her head.

"Already?" Yellow asked with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"Well, we don't really have anything else to do here." Red pointed out. "So I think that it's for the best that we head over to Saffron City now. It shouldn't take too long if we have Abraham use Teleport to take us straight to where we exited the Underground Path on Route 7."

"Okay." Yellow still seemed a bit disappointed to be leaving Celadon but she shifted Eve into her left arm and grabbed Abraham's Pokéball off of her new belt.

The sleeping Abra emerged from the Pokéball and levitated in the air between Yellow, Red and Sable. A moment later and the city around them had been replaced with a forest as they stood outside a small, green-roofed building. There was a larger building not too far off in the distance that served as a gateway into the city.

"Let's go." Yellow said as she recalled Abraham back into his Pokéball and began to walk off towards the gate.

"Hold on, aren't you forgetting something?" Red asked before Yellow was able to get very far.

"What do you mean?" Yellow asked, confused.

Red held Yellow's backpack that she had left by the bench when she had gone off to play, which he had made sure to grab before they left.

"Oh, right." Yellow hurried back to him and set Eve on the ground for a moment so that Red could help her put the backpack on. "Now let's go!"

* * *

Squirtle slowly opened his eyes as he regained consciousness. It took him a moment to take in surroundings before he realized that he was in the back alley behind the Cerulean City Gym. Charmander and Bulbasaur were on the ground beside him, also slowly waking up, while Zoroark looked over them with a worried expression on her face and Jigglypuff sat on a large wooden box that was propped up against one of the walls.

"Are you okay?" Zoroark asked as she noticed the three slowly waking up.

"Never better." Squirtle mumbled sarcastically as he slowly rose to his feet. "No thanks to Bulbasaur."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bulbasaur asked him angrily. "I put my all into that fight!"

"Did you?" Squirtle pulled his sunglasses out of his shell and wiped the lenses with the back of his stubby hand before putting them on. "Did you really?"

"Of course I did! Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. Why didn't you?"

"What are you accusing me of?" Bulbasaur asked angrily.

"Guys, calm down." Charmander said desperately as he rushed to stand between them before their argument could turn into another fight. "It's no one's fault that we lost."

"Except that it was." Squirtle argued. "Bulbasaur was holding back!"

"No I wasn't!" Bulbasaur insisted. "Why would you even think that?"

"Because I've seen what you can do!" Squirtle yelled. "You're already ready to evolve!"

Everything went quiet. Bulbasaur stared at Squirtle with a confused look while the others waited in stunned silence.

"N-no I'm not." Bulbasaur said defensively as he turned away.

"Yes, you are." Squirtle insisted. "I've seen you use Razor Leaf. That's a move you shouldn't be able to learn unless you've already passed the point where you can become an Ivysaur."

"How do you know that?" Bulbasaur asked even more defensively. "I could have been born with that move, or have been taught it."

"Were you?" Squirtle asked.

Bulbasaur stared at Squirtle for a moment before lowering his gaze. "No."

"Then why haven't you evolved? You could be stronger than you are! We could have won that battle!"

"Because I'm scared!"

That sudden outburst sent Squirtle into a stunned shock like the others. Bulbasaur himself seemed kind of surprised by it.

"I'm scared." He mumbled. "Because I don't want to lose myself."

"What do you mean?" Charmander asked.

"I'm afraid that if I evolve then I won't be me anymore. I'm scared of how it could change who I am."

"I know what you're going through." Zoroark said. "I felt similarly when it was time for me to evolve from a Zorua. You may be bigger and stronger than you were before but evolving won't change who you are."

"And you've got us here to support you." Squirtle said. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

"Yeah!" Charmander said. "We're all here for you."

"Do you guys really mean that?" Bulbasaur asked, his confidence returning to him.

"Of course." Squirtle said. "We are a team, after all, and that means that we've always got your back."

"Thank you. I think I'm finally ready now."

Squirtle set out a deep breath and closed his eyes. He relaxed his muscles and for the first time finally stopped holding back the force that had been trying to overtake him for a long time now. It was warm and gentle as the energy engulfed his body and he began to grow. The leaves on his back grew and opened up to uncover the red flower bulb they had encased and he felt the muscles of his hind legs grow considerably stronger. When he opened up his eyes again he could that everyone else seemed shorter than before. But that was just because he was taller now. He was an Ivysaur now.

"How does it feel?" Zoroark asked him gently.

"It feels good." Ivysaur said. "I feel like better, stronger and like a great burden that I've been trying to fight back is gone now."

"Great!" Squirtle gave him a thumbs-up. "When you're ready we can challenge the Gym again and this time you can wipe the floor with them."

"Are you really bringing that up now?" Zoroark asked, exasperated by Squirtle's reaction.

"It's fine. Just give me a little time and I'll be ready to take them down this time." Ivysaur chuckled and stood up on his hind legs, something that he had never been able to do before. "Wow, everything seems so different from up here."

"It sure does." Zoroark laughed. "I more than doubled my height when I evolved. Not to mention having my front legs turn into arms. A whole world of possibilities opened up for me."

Ivysaur looked down at his own front legs. "Yeah, I don't think that I'm going to be able to start using these things as hands any time soon. Plus, I'm going to be back on all fours again when I evolve into Venusaur. But I've got my vines for that, so I don't really need arms anyway."

"It feels weird having to look up at you." Charmander said.

"And it feels weird having to look down at you." Ivysaur laughed. "This will take some time to get used to for all of us."

* * *

Giovanni walked into the empty lab and looked up at the Dark Synergy Crystal that had been hooked up to some machinery on the wall. He had sent a team of agents to the Ferrum region a year ago to find out what it was that allowed the trainers of the region to bond with their Pokémon more closely than anywhere else. This is what they had returned with. At first, Team Rocket's scientists had no idea what to do with the crystal or how to tap into the seemingly unlimited energy housed within it. But that changed when Cipher collapsed and Giovanni was able to poach a number of their former members, including a scientist by the name of John Vicious. Or "The Iron Masked Marauder" as he called now himself.

The Iron Masked Marauder was able to adapt the process that Cipher had developed to create Shadow Pokémon to use the Dark Synergy Crystal as an energy source. The result was Project Dark, which allowed more a more efficient process and better results than the Shadow Pokémon project had ever been able to have. They had even managed to convert humans using the process, with their first test subject being a random grunt by the name of Karla Shamus, or Agent Masque, as she had been codenamed after the test proved successful. Thanks to their recent advancements, the Dark Synergy Crystal had likely become the greatest assets that Team Rocket had ever acquired. With the only thing that could potentially rival it being in Pokémon contained within the Dark Ball that Giovanni now held in his hand.


	136. Chapter 136

Gary had to hold one of his arms above his eyes to block out the sun as he and his Growlithe made their way back out of the lava tube in Cerise Island. After having spent several hours inside of the dark cavern with only Growlithe's flame as a light source, the sun seemed far brighter than he remembered it being. He sat down on a large rock near the tunnel's entrance and rested for a moment.

"I feel exhausted again." He moaned lightly and looked up at the top of the volcano. "And now I have to climb back up there. Great."

He stood up again and stretched out his legs before sending Growlithe back into his Pokéball, then started climbing back up the side of the dormant volcano.

"This certainly isn't how I expected to spend my day when I got up this morning." He said sarcastically to himself. "Then again, I woke up washed up on the beach with no idea how I got here."

* * *

"What did Koga want to talk to you about?" Misty asked Ash as he made his way out of the glass maze and back to the entrance of the Fuchsia Gym.

"What?" It took a moment for Ash to realize what she meant. "Oh, nothing. He was just saying that I have the potential to be a good trainer but that I'm not on his level yet."

"Wow." Ash didn't expect Misty to react so surprised. "That's pretty high praise coming from him. Koga's usually pretty hard on newer trainers."

"Really?" It was Daisy's turn to act surprised. "He seemed pretty supportive when I fought him this morning."

"That's odd. Koga's always been really hard on me."

Ash just shrugged and walked over to the front doors to leave. "I don't know. Maybe you're just not a good enough trainer?" He teased as he walked out the door.

"What was that?" Misty yelled angrily as she ran out after him.

Daisy sighed and smiled weakly before walking out of the Gym. Ash and Misty were already at least halfway down the street by the time she stepped outside, so Daisy had to run after them in order to try and catch up. She wasn't used to running and was practically out of breath by the time she got to the Pokémon Center.

Ash was just getting his Pokémon handed back to him by the nurse when Daisy walked in. She was so tired from running that she went over and took a seat around the table, where Shu and Ritchie were still talking. Meanwhile, Ash walked over to the public PC set up near the front desk and logged on to it.

"What are you doing?" Misty asked, standing next to him and watching as he signed into his Pokémon Storage account.

"If I want to put Pika back on my team, I'm going to have to take someone out." Ash explained, a bit of disappointment in his voice. "Since I'm not allowed to have more than six Pokémon on my team at once."

"Oh, right." Misty nodded. "Wait, you already have six other Pokémon? I thought you had, like, five."

"I have, um… nine, I think." Ash said. "When you left I had Pika, Fearow, Sandslash, Kingler, Volty, Haunter and the Raticate King. So that was seven. But then I gave Volty to you and had to leave Pika at the Pokémon Center there because he got sick, which left me with five. But I, um, don't have the Raticate King with me, so really I only had four Pokémon in my team. Then I was given an egg by the Professor and caught a Ditto earlier today, which put me back to having a full team of six Pokémon. With Pika back that means I have seven with me so I have to put one in storage for now."

"Huh." Misty wasn't sure what to say. "So, who are you taking out of your team to make room for Pika?"

"I'm not really sure." Ash replied. "I don't really want to send any of them away. I know they'll all be fine over at the Professor's place but I kind of wish that I could have all of them with me."

"That's against Pokémon regulations." Misty pointed out

"I know." Ash sighed. "I need Fearow with me in case I need to use Fly, Haunter and Ditto are my two strongest fighters, so I should keep them with me, and I want to keep the egg with me so that I can hatch it. That means that I have to pick between Sandslash and Kingler. It would be nice if I knew what the egg would hatch into."

"You don't know? But shouldn't Professor Oak have told you when he gave it to you?"

"He doesn't know either." Ash explained. "He found it but doesn't know where it came from, so there's no telling what it could hatch into."

"That's odd."

"I think I'm going to take Kingler out for now." Ash said. "I can always swap him back in later."

Ash moved the icon representing Kingler out of his party and into Professor Oak's ranch, then saved and logged out. He could feel Kingler's Pokéball disappear from around his belt and felt a twinge of guilt even though he knew that he shouldn't feel bad about this. He then turned to Misty and held out his hand.

"What?" She asked.

"I need Pika's Pokéball back." Ash pointed out.

"Oh, right." Misty blushed slightly in embarrassment and handed the small red and white orb back to Ash. "Here."

"Thanks." Ash said as he clipped the empty Pokéball to his belt.

* * *

Gary finally made his way to the top of the volcano and walked over to the empty Gym. Fortunately, Lance had left it unlocked for him so he was able to go inside and head over to the healing machine he had used earlier so that he could heal up his Pokémon again. Once that was done he headed back outside and looked around. Lance wasn't back yet and he really didn't have anything else to do until the Gym Leader returned, so he decided to let his Pokémon out and check up on how his team was doing.

"Come on out, everyone." Gary said as he sent out his Pokémon one by one.

First, he sent out his Blastoise, which had just evolved from Wartortle while they were training in the cave. The large blue turtle landed on the ground with a thud and stood up tall, blasting two massive streams of water from the cannons protruding from the back of his shell, which rained back down as a light spray. Gary's Nidoqeen landed beside Blastoise and seemed agitated by the water, giving Blastoise a nasty glare. Growlithe also didn't seem to like the spray of water too much but wasn't as annoyed by it as the Ground-type.

Gary's Exeggcute danced around merrily, five of the six egg-like 'heads' that made up Pokémon hopped around the sixth, which seemed to be the leader among them. Gary had just recently put his Kangaskhan and one of his Pinsir in his team as well and the two both seemed to stand away from the rest of the group. Their body language showed that they hadn't quite gotten used to being a part of the group yet.

Gary walked around his Pokémon, looking them up and down in an attempt at evaluating them. He felt that each of the six Pokémon that he had currently assembled together were adequate enough for his tastes, though they still had some room to grow. He would have to make sure to pick up some evolutionary stones soon for his Growlithe and Exeggcute, who he was almost ready to have evolve into their higher forms. He also wasn't entirely sure he really wanted Kangaskhan and Pinsir to stay as main members of his team, though, but he was willing to test them out for a while before looking for better options. Kangaskhan, in particular, felt a bit redundant when he already had Nidoqueen on his team and he wasn't quite sure what to make of Pinsir yet. Still, they would do for now. And it wasn't like he had to limit himself to just six Pokémon, either. It would probably be better to train up more Pokémon to swap in and out of his team for more versatility and variety.


	137. Chapter 137

Red, Yellow and Sable walked down one of the many roads that crisscrossed through Saffron City. Tall skyscrapers were packed closer together than the ones they had seen back in Celadon, with houses lining the edges of the city. It seemed like it should have been a much more impressive sight than it was, but there was an overwhelming sense that something was off. It took a while for the group to figure out why.

"What happened?" Yellow pointed to the top of the tallest building, in the middle of the city.

"I have no idea." Red felt a twinge of unease mixed with a bit of fear as he noticed the level of destruction in the area. Not just the massive gaping hole and numerous broken windows on that one building, but all of the damage that the nearby buildings had also taken. It was clear that some kind of destructive battle had taken place here. Red thought back to the battle against the giant Tentacruel, realizing just how badly that could have turned out. His mind suddenly flashed to the S.S. Anne and he stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Yellow asked him.

"N-nothing." Red shook his head and continued walking. He wasn't sure what just happened. It was almost like he was on the verge of remembering something, but had no idea what. Whatever it was, it was gone as soon as it had popped into his head. "Let's just find the Gym. I don't want to spend any more time here than we need to."

"I think that's it over there." Sable pointed to a building up ahead, at the edge of the city. "Although, I think I may be seeing double."

"No, I see it too." Red commented as the Gym came closer into view. Or rather the Gyms, as there seemed to be two of them side by side.

The trio made their way to the two Gyms. The one to the right seemed relatively normal, though the Gym on the left had clearly seen better days.

"I guess we'll check out that one." Red motioned to the right-hand Gym. "The other one looks abandoned."

"The lights are on." Sable pointed out.

"Yeah, but…" Red tried to think of an excuse. "Let's just try this one first."

Red walked up to the Gym and paused to wait for the automatic doors to slide open before heading inside. Yellow and Sable followed him in. The gym seemed fairly empty save for a large chair on the far end that looked almost like some kind of creepy throne. There was an ominous tension in the air that sent a chill went down Red's spine as he walked across the purple tiled floor and Yellow grabbed his arm, pulling herself close to him. Sable seemed perfectly at ease.

"Welcome, Samuel Redwood of Pallet Town." A dark-haired teenager stood up from the throne. She snapped her fingers and the dark room suddenly lit up. "I am Sabrina, the leader of this Gym."

"How do you know my name?" Red immediately realized that was a stupid question as he already knew that Gym Leaders already had access to the records of all of the trainers in the region. Obviously, she had simply memorized the names of the trainers that she knew would be challenging her.

"I know many things." Sabrina replied. "For I have had psychic powers ever since I was but a child. It started with a spoon twisting in my hand and has only grown since then. But then again, psychic powers should be nothing new to you considering who you travel with."

"What?" Red was utterly confused by this unexpected revelation. "Y-you can't be serious."

"I am always serious." Sabrina closed her eyes. "And I can sense that you know what I am telling you is the truth. You have many questions for me. However, they shall have to wait until after our battle, which will now commence."

Sabrina lifted her hand and a Pokéball resting on the armrest of the chair she had been sitting on suddenly floated into the air, hovering beside the Gym Leader. The Pokéball emitted a beam of red light as an Abra appeared in front of her.

Red was startled to see the Pokéball float like that, but fortunately it didn't distract him too much. He was familiar with Abra thanks to spending so much time with Yellow's, and he knew that it would be difficult to fight one head on because it would just end up using Teleport to avoid the attack. Fortunately, one of his new Pokémon had exactly what he needed to get around this.

"Porygon, use Lock-On!"

The red and blue polygonal bird emerged from its Pokéball and hovered in the air between Red and Sabrina's Abra. The Virtual Pokémon's eyes turned green and its pupils changed into target reticules as it targeted the Abra, which continued to hover in the air, sound asleep.

"Now, use Signal Beam!"

Porygon fired a beam of green energy at Sabrina's Abra. The sleeping Pokémon teleported out of the way of the beam's blast, exactly as Red expected. As Porygon's attack reached the spot where Abra had been it suddenly shifted directions as if ricocheting off of thin air and hit Abra from behind. The Psi Pokémon was knocked forward by the blast. It seemed as if Abra was going to fall to the ground but just as it was about to hit the floor it Teleported directly in front of Porygon with its hands raised to its forehead. There was a blinding Flash of white light, disorienting both Red and his Porygon.

"Lock-On." Red ordered as he rubbed his eyes, unable to see much of anything at the moment.

Porygon's eyes briefly turned white as the digital Pokémon rebooted its optical sensors before it took aim once again. Porygon launched another Signal Beam and Abra used Teleport to get out of the way. As before, the Signal Beam changed directions to strike Abra but the Psi Pokmon was able to Teleport again. This did not actually help Abra, however, as Porygon's attack redirected itself again to hit him. Sabrina's Abra was knocked out by the hit, falling to the ground.

Sabrina waved her arm and Abra was sent back into its Pokéball. Another Pokéball hovered over from Sabrina's chair to send out her second Pokémon, Mr. Mime. The pink and white Barrier Pokémon stood in place, moving its hands as if there was some kind of invisible wall in front of it.

"Signal Beam!"

Porygon fired yet another sickly green blast of energy, which bounced off of the invisible wall that Mr. Mime had formed, fizzling out into nothing.

"Wait, what?" Red thought for a moment that his vision was still being affected by Abra's Flash from earlier.

"Do not think that you will be able to defeat Mr. Mime so easily." Sabrina spoke for the first time since the battle began. "His pantomime isn't just for show, you know. Mr. Mime has the power to solidify the air around himself with his fingertips, allowing him to create barriers and other objects at will through his motions. But of course, I sense that you are already working on finding a way around this."

"Porygon, return." Red gritted his teeth. He really didn't like the idea of his opponent being able to read his thoughts. "Charmeleon, show them your Flame Burst."

Red's starter Pokémon emerged from his Pokéball and landed on the ground before spitting a sizable ball of fire at Mr. Mime. The attack struck another invisible wall created by Mr. Mime. However, rather than simply dissipating, the fireball split apart and spread around the wall. It failed to hit Mr. Mime directly, but the heat of the blast forced him to drop his guard for a moment.

"Now follow it up with a Fire Fang!"

Charmeleon leaped forward, opening his mouth as his teeth became engulfed in flame. Before Mr. Mime was able to create another Barrier to defend himself, Charmeleon was already biting into his shoulder. Mr. Mime knocked the Flame Pokémon away from him with a Double Slap and tried to create a Barrier. He wasn't fast enough, however, and Charmeleon was able to uppercut Mr. Mime in the chin with a Metal Claw. Mr. Mime flipped through the air before falling back face-first onto the tiled floor. He was able to get back up just in time to block another Metal Claw with one of his Barriers.

Mr. Mime went on the offensive now, sending a blast of Psychic at Charmeleon. Charmeleon tried to brace himself against the attack, but it didn't do much. Mr. Mime then jumped forward to hit Charmeleon with another Double Slap. He wasn't fast enough though and ended up getting hit with a Flame Burst at point blank range. Mr. Mime collapsed to the ground and Sabrina used her telekinesis to swap in her last Pokémon.

Kadabra hovered just above the ground in a meditative pose. Charmeleon fired a Flame Bust at Kadabra, but the evolved Psi Pokémon used Teleport to suddenly appear behind Charmeleon. Charmeleon didn't have enough time to react before Kadabra slashed at him with Psycho Cut, striking Charmeleon in the neck with the spoon it held. Charmeleon then quickly turned around to hit Kadabra with a Metal Claw, but Kadabra evaded the attack and fired a blast of Psychic at Charmeleon. Charmeleon stumbled but was able to pick himself back up again, a determined fire in his eye.

"This is the part where it starts to get interesting." Sabrina said. "And I suppose congratulations are in order."

A white light engulfed as the Flame Pokémon began to grow larger. A pair of wings sprouted forth from his back as the light began to fade and the newly evolved Charizard stood there triumphantly.

"Woah!" Yellow couldn't help but look on in awe. Even Sable almost seemed mildly impressed.

"Alright!" Red pumped his fist dramatically. "Now, Charizard! Let's see what you've got!"

Charizard let out a powerful roar. Kadabra took the opportunity to fire another Psychic attack. This proved useless, however, as Charizard sprung forward. Using his new wings to increase the speed and power of his jump, Charizard slashed right through the attack with his claws as they were surrounded in a ghostly purple aura. His momentum allowed Charizard to continue hurtling forward and he was able to strike Kadabra with Shadow Claw. Kadabra recoiled from the blow and used Teleport to relocate to the other end of the Gym.

Heavily weakened, Kadabra attempted to use Recover to restore his health but Charizard didn't let him have the chance. Charizard fired a Flame Burst at Kadabra, hitting him before his Recover could take effect. Kadabra then attempted to counter with Psychic but Charizard simply brushed off the attack and fired another Flame Burst, draining the last of Kadabra's strength. Sabrina recalled Kadabra into his Pokéball before he even hit the ground.

"Victory is yours." Sabrina said as she walked towards Red, the marsh Badge flouting just above her outstretched hand.

"Thank you." Red nodded and took the badge from her.

"Now, as I said before our battle, I will answer some of the questions that you have. First off, I cannot read the girl's mind to access her memories and tell you who she is." Sabrina looked apologetically at Yellow.

"Why not?" Yellow asked.

"Because you are a psychic like me." Sabrina explained. "In fact, your psychic power is even greater than mine was when I was your age, something which I did not think was even possible before now."

"Really?" Yellow and Red were both extremely surprised to hear this, though Sable didn't seem to react to the news.

"Yes, and unfortunately you seem to be subconsciously blocking off access to your memories. Even I can't reach them."

"Oh." Yellow looked down at the floor in disappointment.

"Your Pikachu, on the other hand, is a different story."

"What?" Yellow and Red both turned to Chuchu, who seemed to tense up in Yellow's arms.

"I'm a bit confused myself." Sabrina confessed. "That Pikachu you have there seems to have strong psychic powers as well. In fact, now she's blocking me out of her thoughts completely, which is not something that I ever thought I would say about a Pikachu. I was able to get a bit from her a moment ago, however. It would appear that Pikachu knew you before you lost your memories and knows who you are. Sadly that was all I was able to get from her."

"Chuchu?" Yellow looked down at her Pikachu.

"I guess that might explain why she came to our rescue back in Porta Vista." Red realized. "But now I feel like I'm even more confused."

"I am sorry that I couldn't be more help." Sabrina said.

"That's alright." Red smiled. "I guess we'll just have to find things out on our own. That was kind of the plan anyway."

Red placed a hand on Yellow's shoulder and the two turned to head out. Once they had their backs turned, Sable and Sabrina locked eyes with each other.

 _-Why didn't you want to tell them more?-_ Sabrina asked telepathically.

 _-Because,-_ Sable gave a smile that made Sabrina a bit uneasy. _-They could get into trouble if they find out too much now.-_

 _-But that thing is after her.-_

 _-I know. That's why I don't want them to know. If they found out everything now, then they would end up looking for him. But they aren't ready yet.-_

 _-I still feel like leaving them in the dark is a bad idea.-_

 _-I know it may not seem like the best option to you, but trust me. They have me looking out for them, after all, and there's nothing I want more than to keep my family safe.-_


End file.
